The Battle of the Sky Army and the Squid Army: Part 5
by The Awesomer
Summary: Six months. So much has happened since then. Athena has finally gotten out of intensive-care, spring has chased away the harsh, unforgiving winter storms until the next year to come, and the Sky Army and its alliances finally have a plan to defeat The Squids once and for all. But, can they all survive to tell the tale to future generations, or rejoin lost family in the Aether?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, before you start reading, I have a special surprise for you all.**

**My friend—Ib Sandoval—is going to help me write my stories! She is _very_ talented, amazing at thinking of material, and very excited about helping with writing our series! She is actually the one who created the idea of Athena's siblings and back story (Eris, Hephaestus, Calypso, etc.)!  
**

**But, she has _tons_ of great ideas, and we can't put them all into the story without making it too long, or making the story confusing. So, we both want all of your opinions!**

**I am starting a poll on my profile, and I want _you_ all to vote!  
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**DO IT! DO IT NOW!**

* * *

So...

Who wants to hear a quick recap? Eh? Eh?

No?

Maybe you'll get free budder...! _Eh?_

Alright: The Sky Army generals, TobyTurner, Markiplier and his friend, PBG and his friends, the two children of Herobrine, the children of Notch, a few extra friends, and a very dangerous girl have a plan to defeat The Squids once and for all. But the plan included getting the essence of the Wither, and injecting it into the dangerous girl. Now that the girl is a human-Wither hybrid, she can now help defeat The Squids for good.

Also... Jerome _may_ have won the Hunger Games.

Now, back to the real story!

* * *

Sky POV—

I watched as Athena hobbled out of the recovery dorms, the hobbling caused by the stitches in her stomach. She had been put in intensive-care for about six months. The Wither had torn a wound about the quarter the size a block in her stomach, probably from her body fighting the Wither Effect in the past.

And when the Wither was about to die, it slammed her into a tree, so she had a _really_ bad concussion; she was in a coma for about two weeks.

Ouch.

It was safe to say she was badly injured when we fought the Wither, and after we killed the Wither, she just...

Well...

She kinda died at one point. But we revived her, so it's okay...

Erm... back to the... story...

While she was in the coma, Vic took the liberty of injecting the finished Wither essence and finally making her a hybrid again. She was fine with that, happy even. Honestly, she didn't care about anything. All Athena asked for was the Eye of Ender she carried with her all the time. I wondered why it was so special to her. We had hundreds in storage.

Athena smiled as she hobbled to me. "Ah! It's good to finally be healed enough to get out of the recovery dorms!" she sighed.

I nodded. "Yeah. Have you been outside yet?"

She shook her head. "No. But I really wanna smell the new spring air!"

Oh. I forgot to mention that the harsh winter finally let up, and we were allowed to have a nice, calm spring. All of Sky Army was happy about it, being able to walk outside without the cold weather forcing them to go back inside the main building. This put everyone back into a good mood: people were laughing more often than they did during the winter, plus they trained longer and harder. But there was no such thing as a free lunch...

Was there...?

No. Through all of this, The Squids were able to come from the rivers and lakes and their realm. This lead to more attacks, including with the hostile monsters. People were killed, put back into the bitter mood...

In other words: Everything was put back to normal!

Athena walked outside, taking a deep breath of fresh air in and letting it out. "Finally! This is what I needed!"

I laughed, patting her on the back. "Good to have ya back, Athena."

Marz and Noah—the two children of Herobrine—walked over. "Yo, Sky," Noah greeted. "Where's Ck and Vic? Ya know?"

I pointed to the main building. "The conference room. They're marking some stuff on a few maps. Why?"

Marz held up a sword. A _Squid _sword. "We found this next to the "Skyhub 2013." Blabid and Lignite are going _insane._"

They walked off, and I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Shit. That's the thirteenth this week."

"Thirteenth what?" Athena asked.

"The Squids have been trying to kill our friends for the past month now," I answered. "First they tried to kill Toby; then Caveman and the Dwellers; then they tried to kill Dawn..."

I paused. Dawn was nine months pregnant, making it obvious that she was carrying a child. Plus, she could give birth any minute. The Squids had no doubt figured out, only making Dawn an even bigger target than me. They were already stopping at nothing to try and kill her, killing—

"Sky?"

I snapped out of my thoughts. Snapp—one of the two leaders of Team Press Start—was holding a rolled up map in his hand. Athena was walking towards the archery-area, her old bow in hand. Snapp probably sent her over there. He unrolled the map and held it up. "Sky. I think I located a few of The Squid's hideouts. They're not big or anything, but they may hold information on finding the main base."

I took the map from his hands. There were about seven red dots spread out across the map, marking where some of The Squid's smaller bases would have been. Some were pretty far out, almost to the edge of the map. Others were _really _close to the Sky Army HQ. I studied them carefully.

"Holy squid shit," I mumbled. "How did you find these?"

He bit his lip. "Research."

I saw him hide the squid costume behind his back.

I laughed. "Oh my Notch! They're _that_ stupid?"

Snapp grinned. "Fuck yeah. Chance disguises himself as one too."

I laughed again. "Shit! I knew they were stupid, but I didn't know they were stupid enough to actually not know the difference between a real squid and a fake!"

Ruby burst past me, holding a shimmering diamond sword. Sapphire was closely following her. "Ruby! Give me my sword back or you'll regret that you even touched it!"

"Never!" Ruby shouted, running towards the main building.

Sisterly love.

Snapp went back to the map. "I think we should start with extracting information from one of the bases, then going through all the bases."

I nodded. "Alright. But we should do this quietly. If they find out that _we_ were the ones who destroyed some of their hideouts, then Sky Army is going to have another _giant-ass-squid-destroying-Sky-Army-HQ-and-eating- my-friends_ incident."

He cocked his head. "A _what?_"

"Oh right. You weren't there," I mumbled. **(A/N Reference to the first B.S.A.S.A. What are you going to do about it? :3)**

An arrow suddenly landed at my feet, and we both yelped in surprise. Toby called from behind us: "Sorry!"

I turned, noticing how most of the archers had their backs _to_ us. My eyes turned wide. "How did you even shoot that at us!? You're not even facing our direction!"

Toby looked back at us, a large, devilish smile on his face. "I'm just _that_ bad."

A few of the female recruits screamed and brushed past us. Lignite was chasing them, a large grin on his face. "I'm gonna blow up the Sky Army base!" he teased.

I laughed. "Run! The creeper's gonna kill you all!" I played along.

Sure, I was upset about how there were several Squid hideouts nearby the base, but I still wanted to have fun today.

* * *

Athena POV—

I stood, just out of the sight of everyone in the Sky Army HQ. I held the Eye of Ender in my hand. Should I see my sister? I hadn't seen her in almost three months, since I was injured and it was too risky to visit her. I was under surveillance for _"important reasons."_

That was basically code words for: _we're-gonna-be-watching-you-becuase-you-are-now- part-Wither-and-we're-making-sure-you-won't-go-an- angry-rampage-and-kill-everyone._

I shut my eyes, taking a deep breath in and letting it out slowly. The sounds of the Sky Army recruits melted away, replaced by the quiet sounds of endermen talking to each other. I opened my eyes, looking at the familiar white endstone underneath my combat boots. The dark "sky" overhead cast a dark light, just enough to see where I was going. The dark obsidian towers proudly displayed the purple crystals that healed the Ender Dragon.

As usual, I felt the all familiar burst of hot breath hit my back. I smiled. "Sorry I was gone for long, Eris."

I turned, looking at my little sister. Well, what my little sister turned into. My sister used to be human, but a hybrid like me. She was part human, part Ender Dragon. But when she died, she turned into the Ender Dragon itself. She gave me an Eye of Ender, which turned out to be a way to teleport to the End. This was how I managed to talk and spend time with my little sister.

Eris growled, nuzzling me again. I put my hand on her snout. "I was in the recovery dorms of Sky Army for a while. But I'm part-Wither again."

Her eyes twinkled with a happy purple light. I took that as a _great!_

I remembered the Eye of Ender, and I opened up my palm. The blue-green orb slowly drifted from my hand and over Eris' head. A mist-form of Eris as a human appeared in front of me. She smiled, and hugged me.

I was taken aback a little. I didn't know that she could touch me in her mist-form. I wrapped my arms around the mist-form of my little sister. She was cool, like a morning fog in a dense rain forest. Her form shimmered, and I let go. She looked up at me, her human-like green eyes sparkling. _Good! You can finally do what all of the human race needs to happen!_

I smiled. "Kill all The Squids?"

_Yep!_

I then winced. My abdomen started to hurt again. I had just got new stitches for the wound I got when fighting the Wither, and they hurt worse than falling into lava in the Nether. "Owowowowowow..." I mumbled to myself.

_Stitches, eh?_ Eris asked.

I nodded. "They hurt like shit. Excuse my language."

_Well, that's not going to be the worst of the pain. You're about to deal with more._

I turned my attention back to her. "W—What do you mean?"

Mist-Eris shrugged. _Just... a feeling. I don't really understand._

I took a couple deep breaths, the pain starting to subside. "Um... alright. I think I gotta go."

Mist-Eris disappeared, and the Eye of Ender drifted back into my palm. I patted my hand on Ender-Dragon-Eris' snout. "I'll see you soon."

* * *

Sky POV—

Blabid and Lignite met up with the other Sky Army generals and I at Skyhub 2013. I had seen the structure only three times in the past, and I still had to say it was grander than Skyhub 3.0.

The large wooden structure reached almost 150 blocks up in the air, with up to nine rooms and watchtowers. The dark spruce wood made it hidden well during the nighttime, making it ideal for a night hide-out. There were around twenty iron blocks in _T _configurations surrounding the Skyhub. If there were any attacker coming, pumpkin heads would drop down onto each of them, creating bunches of iron golems. Some of our more important meetings were held here, partly because it was harder to get into than Sky Army HQ; partly because none of The Squids knew about it.

We all climbed up the wooden ladders to get inside, the interior made of iron blocks to both protect and sound-proof the Skyhub 2013. This was what Blabid and Lignite called "home."

Amazing, really.

All of us gathered in the main room, mostly in a circle: Dawn, Seto, MUDKIPZ, Sparklez, Caveman, Deadlox, Minecraftuniverse, Jerome, Ssundee, Bajan, Ethan, Toby, Markiplier, Minion, PBG, Kyrak, McJones, Ck, Snapp, Chance, iAngel, Polska, Luna, Zhubox, Kate, Sierra, Marz, Noah, Susan, Ruby, Sapphire, and Vic. Everyone was in battle gear and holding their weapons (Minus Lignite), prepared just in case The Squids decided to pay us a little visit.

Snapp walked into the middle of all the Sky Army generals, and unrolled the map from earlier. He pointed to one of the red dots, the one that was closest to the TobyTurner Head Quarters. Toby's main base camp. "This is the closest Squid hideout that we _know_ of, which happens to be right next to Toby's base."

Toby drew his diamond sword and thrust it into the iron floor. "FREAKING NUGGET-IN-A-BISCUIT!" he yelled.

"Um... can you please remove your sword from the floor, Toby...?" Blabid asked, a little bit of fear in his voice.

Toby nodded, his jaw clenched as he pulled the diamond sword from the iron ground.

Snapp continued: "It's time to gather up a few of our recruits and send them in."

Toby raised his diamond sword, firey anger burning in his usually brown eyes. "LET THEM TASTE THEIR OWN BLOOD!"

Everyone backed away, hoping not to get skewered by our psychotic friend.

Chance took a cautious step forward, his hands up to show that he had no weapon. "Okay, Toby. I'm... uh... gonna take away the crystalline sword... okay? Nice and easy..."

"_LET THE SQUIDS TASTE BLOOD!"_ Toby screamed, diving out of the Skyhub 2013 and dashing away.

The children of Notch all sighed. "Luna, would you...?"

Luna sighed. "Got it." She disappeared in a puff of ender particles then coming back, holding Toby's wrists tightly in her hands. His diamond sword was strapped to her belt.

"Toby, we can't go yet. We need to make a plan, gather the needed people and supplies, _then_, we can go," Marz explained with a sigh.

Toby grit his teeth. "But... The Audience Members...!"

"We'll get to that later, dammit!" Dawn almost shouted. "Just shut up and listen to Snapp!"

We all stared at her in shock. She hadn't been this angry in _months._ She had mostly been in our quarters, resting for obvious reasons. But whenever she came out, she was calm and happy. Her outburst had taken us all by surprise.

Snapp came out of the stupor first. "O—Okay... Anyways, I have a plan, and it only requires TNT, a few ender pearls, a flint-and-steel, and a few of our most intimidating people."


	2. Chapter 2: Operation: Base Number One

**Alright, before you start sending me reviews like this:**

_**Why did you not post a chapter yesterday!?**_

**Look at the last chapter in Part 4. Remember, in the update section?**

**I said that my school year was starting, and that I was going to post chapters once every _two_ days. So, before you start screaming at me, I'm holding out onto my update.**

**Plus, ya know, I'm only human.**

**Anyways! Start reading today's chapter!  
**

**Also, the votes for what's going to happen in the story will be closing at midnight on August 24th. So get those votes in before it's too late!**

* * *

Athena POV—

Here is _exactly_ what I said when I first heard Snapp's plan: "Wow. We could really pull this off."

Here are my _exact_ words when we were about to put the plan into motion: "Fuck. This is not gonna work."

Let me explain.

Operation:_ Base Number 1,_ was pretty simple. We would send Susan into The Squid's hideout, making sure that she looked like she was still working for The Squids. Once she was in, she would make a quick distraction by lighting the hideout on fire when no one was looking. While everyone was focusing on the fire, she would slip into one of the main offices and find some info on the other Squid hideouts and the main base. When she got what we needed, she would go into the prisoners' cells (Some of the prisoners were Sky Army recruits or part of the alliances), and use the TNT to bust them out.

If all else fails, she always had a few ender pearls for _Plan B_.

But Sky wanted to make Susan look like she was still working for The Squids even farther, so he made me act like a hostage.

Plus, you know, I was back up if _Plan B_ failed.

I watched as Susan stomped on the ground three times in a kind of pattern, before a cleverly-hidden iron door opened up. Two, human-squid hybrids of some kind stepped forward. Looked like the usual squids that Sky Army had fought, only with a kind of burly, muscular, human build. Both had a kind of mix with iron and derpy-squid armor, making them look incredibly dumb despite their buff looks. Both brandished enchanted iron swords, pointing them at both of our throats.

"Ssenisub ruoy si tahw dna uoy era ohw?" The hybrid-thing on the left asked.

I had _no_ idea what it said, but Susan apparently knew and replied with ease: "Esab niam eht ot tnega laiceps a, Susan ma I. _ylreporp_ gabmucs Sky Army siht fo esopsid nac I os ni em tel uoy fi etaicerppa dluow I."

The two guards looked at each other, nodded, then lowered their weapons. "Kciuq ti ekam."

Susan nodded, then shoved me forward. "Let's go, Sky Army scumbag."

We walked passed the guards, then sighed in relief. "Nice touch with the name and shoving me," I complimented.

She nodded. "I had to make it believable."

I looked at her. "What... _language..._ was that?"

"Seriously? You never learned how to talk backwards?"

My eyes turned wide. "You were talking... _backwards?_"

"Yup. That's how The Squids speak," Susan went back to her serious face in a snap. "Guards."

I pretended to look like I was both angry and injured. About three guards were walking down the hall ahead of us, coming our direction and escorting a man in a plated ninja suit the color of molten lava. He looked especially peculiar because of his mask: It was ashen grey, with a kind of design that reminded me of some kind of hostile monster. What was it...?

Magma cube?

The man looked at me and his two eyes narrowed, inspecting me with a kind of strange emotion I couldn't place my finger on. He stopped walking when we were right next to each other. I cocked my head, but didn't say a word.

"Yeh! Nether eht ot gniog er'uoy ro gnivom teg!" one of the guards scolded the man, striking him on the top of his head with the butt of his sword.

I closed my eyes, going through the words the guard had just said. _Hey... Get moving or you're going to the Nether..._ I translated.

The man didn't cry out, only rubbed his head and started walking down the hall again. I looked at Susan. "Prisoner?"

"Eeyup."

I wiped some of the nervous sweat from my brow. "I guess he's just another person to break out of the prison cells."

Susan nodded. "Speaking of which..." she pulled the flint-and-steel from her sleeve, a devilish grin tugging at her lips. "Shall we get started with the operation, madame?"

* * *

I looked at the large portrait of the main Squid Overlord: Derpollous. He was like the human-squid hybrids, only stronger and better in power. He was wearing a classy white tuxedo, a navy blue flower on the lapel. He was leaning on a derpy-squid axe, the blade through a painted-Sky's chest. He was smiling, offering a hand to us as if saying: _I defeated the Sky Army. What the fuck are you gonna do about it, bitches?_

The portrait made me want to wrap my hands around his stubby throat and snap it.

The Squid that made my life a living Nether. My family, my hope, and my happiness was basically demolished, ground up to dust, then blown away by this fucking asshole.

Susan was looking at the portrait with me. "I know The Squids are the enemy, but you have to admit: They have _really_ good painting skills."

I nodded. "Yeah. They really caught the details down to the tiniest shadows."

"Yep."

I grinned evilly, snatching the flint-and-steel from her hands. "I'm gonna enjoy burning this!"

I held up the two items, striking them together to form a single pale orange spark of fire. The spark hit the paint, making a tiny, flickering flame. I smiled, blowing on the flame to add oxygen. "I'm basically watching the future. Him being burned to a crisp in the Nether."

Susan looked at me, a strange emotion her face. Disgust? "I don't mean to make you feel offended, but those sound a little dark."

I almost squealed with delight when I heard an alarm blare. We quickly ducked into a hall and ran into one of the main offices by the time a few squid guards had gotten to the fire. One of them spotted us, unfortunately, and we were left with a squad of squid guards trying to kill us for burning their painting. I slammed the iron door shut and locked it, leaning against it for good measure.

Susan quickly killed The Squid that was at the desk using her obsidian sword, then plucked a book from the desk. "Alright." She flipped through a few pages before shutting the book. "This has everything. Blueprints, coordinates, codes, passwords. We're all set."

The door then quivered as a large _BAM! _came from the outside. I leaned heavily against the door now. "Shit! I don't think they wanna pop in and say _hi__!_"

Susan looked up, pointing at a wooden trapdoor. "Air-vents!" She leaped onto the desk and sliced through the trapdoor like it was soft clay. Susan then hopped into the air-ducts, disappearing in the iron vents. "Cover me! I'm gonna get to the prison cells!"

"Susan!" I yelled. The door quivered again. I pulled out my budder daggers, pulled myself from the door, and held them in my barely-remembered attack-stance. "A little help down here!"

The door started to cave in, the hinges creaking as The Squids tried to break in.

"HELLO!" I screamed. "ANYONE WHO WANTS TO KEEP ME ALIVE!?"

The door finally flew off the hinges, leaving five, _very_ pissed off squid guards. The lead one pointed at me. "Flesmih Derpollous ot tnes teg uoy ro nwod snopaew eht tup!"

_Put the weapons down or you get sent to Derpollous himself,_ I loosely translated.

I kept my daggers raised, backing up slowly towards the wall. As much as I wanted to chuck a wither skull at them, I couldn't risk them finding out that I was a hybrid. That only meant game-over if they found out.

My back hit the wall, and I began to shake. I hadn't fought anything in _six months._ I was in no shape to fight. I barely remembered my attack stance. How was I supposed to fight?

It was there that I heard up to _hundreds_ of people screaming in a kind of victory. I suddenly broke out into a grin.

"WELL, gentlemen!" I started off, bowing in a mock-respect. "I would love to stay and all—chat, have some tea, maybe let you take me to the prison and torture me until I give up a few answers and die—but I believe Sky Army has won this battle for now! So, I bid you farewell!"

Then, almost hundreds of men burst into the room, killing the guards that were trying to kill me, lead by Susan.

* * *

Susan POV—

I crawled through the iron air-vents, TNT in my hand for future use. Though, I was going through a debate in my mind. Was it alright if I left Athena down there? Would she be okay?

_She's fine. Focus on the mission._

I shook myself just as another wooden trapdoor came in front of me. I peeked through the small viewing-windows, hoping to find glimpses of the prison cells.

Yes! I heard a few Squidlantians—or squid guards—walking around the cells, scolding the prisoners to be quiet. I put away the TNT and replaced it with my obsidian sword, carefully and quietly removing the trapdoor. I waited patiently, my breathing instinctively turning shallow.

A Squidlantian started to walk directly underneath the trapdoor. I put myself in the ready position. _C'mon, idiot. Walk underneath so I can have a softer landing,_ I thought to myself.

The squid guard took one more step, and I dove out of the air-vents. I landed on the guard with a quiet _omph,_ immediately finishing the job with a slash of my obsidian sword. None of the other guards noticed, thank Notch. I quickly sprinted to a nearby cell that was open just as a Squidlantian guard turned in my direction.

"Shit," I mumbled to myself. There were at least around ten guards, and I had left the body of the previous squid on the ground in plain sight.

"Yeh! Cidem a teg enoemos!" one of the pacing guards shouted.

_Someone get a medic,_ I translated.

I risked a quick peek from my hiding place. Two Squidlantians were tending to their dead friend—whom I _highly_ doubt was coming back from the Nether—while eight more pulled out their weapons and started looking for me.

I looked down, quickly scooping up a handful of soil and smearing it on my face. That would make it look like I had just been through a fight or something. I put away my obsidian sword. No need for the extra length. All I needed was a smaller and more quiet weapon. I searched through my backpack, coming up with an old iron dagger that I stole from the blacksmith.

Ah! That would last just long enough to take care of the remaining Squidlantian guards!

I slipped the old dagger underneath my dress sleeves, rearranging the folds to hide the outline of the dagger.

_Last bit,_ I thought to myself. I bit the pad of my little finger hard enough to draw blood. I ran my bleeding finger along my face, creating the illusion that I was bleeding.

_Ow. I hate doing that,_ I thought to myself, my finger throbbing from the pain of biting it.

_One. Two. Three._

I stumbled out of the prison cell I was hiding in, adding in a fake limp to seal the deal. "Help! Somebody! There's a crazy girl running around the base! She tried to kill me! Someone help!" I yelled in English.

One of the Squidlantians turned to me. I translated what he said to this: "Hey! This is a restricted area! How did you get in here?"

I kept limping towards him, ignoring what he said and focusing on killing them swiftly. "Please! You need to send your troops to kill her! I think she's near the entrance!"

The Squidlantian grabbed my arm and yanked me towards him. "Shut up! Tell. Us. How. You. Got. In. Here."

All of the guards turned towards me, along with the prisoners.

I then straightened up, a slight smirk tugging at my lips. "I got in... because you guys are _that_ fucking stupid!"

I whipped out the hidden dagger and skewered the Squidlantian in front of me. Before the others could _register _what I just did, I threw the dagger into another guard's head.

"Tihs eht tahw gnikcuf!" one of the other Squidlantian guards screamed, pulling out a bow.

Too late. I pulled my obsidian sword from my back and skewered four more guards. The remaining four guards tried to charge me.

Big mistake.

I fetched the prison keys from one of the guards and twirled them on my finger in victory, looking at the prisoners stuck in the cells. Fighters for the Sky Army and its alliances.

"How would you all feel if you guys could be freed from this fucking Nether-hole?"


	3. Chapter 3: First Victory

Susan POV—

Wow.

That's all I had to say about the prisoners we freed.

Wow.

There were recruits from the Sky Army, The Audience, The Dwellers, The Alternate Army, and even a few people from Team Press Start. All of them looked powerful and fearless, ready to die fighting The Squids. I was greeted with cheers and a few hugs from each cell I unlocked, but it was a certain person in the last cell that I really caught my eye.

It was the man from when Athena and I walked down the hall earlier. The man was dressed in an interesting way: A ninja suit covered in armor the color of molten lava, along with an ashen grey mask with the design to look like a magma cube face. He slowly stepped from his cell, his eyes narrowed as he inspected me head-to-toe.

"You do not really work for The Squid Army, do you?" he said slowly, his voice deep.

I nodded. "The Squid Army used me to kill anyone they wanted me to kill. But Sky Army put that aside and helped me."

The man nodded. "Good." He offered his hand, still slowly. "I am 'Red Flare.' "

I shook his hand. "Susan."

It was there that a cry arose from the air-ducts above: "HELLO! ANYONE WHO WANTS TO KEEP ME ALIVE!?"

"Squid shit," I mumbled. I had left Athena alone. I waved to the air-ducts. "Everyone follow me! I know a way out!"

Red Flare stopped me, pointing to a door in the corner of the prison. "I vote we get weapons first, Susan."

A recruit from Team Press Start opened the door wide open, then fist-pumped. "FUCK YEAH!"

I walked over and took a look. It was weapons galore. From enchanted daggers, to bows, to swords, to pickaxes, to axes. There were quivers _filled __to the brim_ with different kinds of arrows: TNT arrows, fire charged arrows, arrows with magma cream. The swords, daggers, and axes were sharpened enough to make a clean slice through anything, glinting in the glowstone lights. The pickaxes had points sharper than the Ender Dragon's fangs, making them look deadly to everyone that took a good look.

Everyone began to take their favored weapons. I took only a bow with a quiver of TNT arrows, just in case. Red Flare took several iron daggers and a ninja sword, weaving back through the crowd again to look at the air-duct. "That won't do."

I cocked my head. "Why would that be?"

He turned back to me. "Did you leave any evidence behind that you went into the air-ducts?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"Then, we're gonna have to walk out the front door." Red Flare motioned to an iron door near the opposite end of the prison. "If they know that you've gone through the vents, then they'll be waiting on the other side."

Point taken.

"Let's kill these sons 'o bitches!" a random recruit yelled, raising her pickaxe into the air.

"YAAA!" Everyone raised their weapons and cheered, running towards the door that Red Flare had pointed out.

* * *

Athena POV—

Holy squid shit. The battle was quick, and very bloody.

Over three hundred recruits easily took out the five recruits that tried to kill me. All of them were in prison jumpsuits, orange with a variety of different numbers on the chests. All of the recruits were part of Sky Army or its alliances: Team Press Start, The Audience, The Alternate Army, and The Dwellers. All of them were ready to bring The Squids to the ground and throw them into the Nether.

I slowly put away my budder daggers and walking back to Susan. "That... that was... was..."

"What? A little late? Surprising?"

I shook my head as I grinned. "That was the definition of _pure awesome, motha fucka!"_

We both laughed until I noticed the man next to her. I froze. It was the same man from the hall. The guy who reminded me of a Magma Cube.

He offered his hand. "I am Red Flare."

I shook his hand, trembling a bit. There was something about him that was... unsettling. "Athena."

"Pleased to meet you. However, I would suggest we start moving." Red Flare motioned to where the door used to be.

I nodded, walking towards the door before stopping. I broke out into a large grin. "Susan. Hand me the TNT and the flint-and-steel, would you dear?"

Susan passed me the two items. "Why?"

I waved her off. "Go to the surface without me. Get to The Audience HQ. I'll see you guys there."

She shrugged and ran off, the freed recruits following.

I held the TNT in my hand, a wicked grin reaching to both my ears. I knew what I was going to do next.

"Let's blow this place to the fucking ground."

* * *

I walked casually through the halls, no guards bothering me as they were trying to kill the escaped recruits. This was going to be easy.

I finally walked into the storage chamber, immediately placing down the TNT as I walked along. The storage chamber would have enough explosive material to destroy the entire Squid base. Excitement was slowly rising inside of me, almost overflowing enough for me to cheer each time I placed a TNT in a random place. This was going to be the highlight of my entire life: Blowing up one of The Squids bases.

At least the highlight for now.

I heard a few footsteps from behind me, and I whipped around, TNT in my hand. A Squid guard was staring at the TNT all over the storage chamber, just ready to be detonated. He was holding a bow, but was covered in arrows. Possibly from the freed recruits.

"GNIOD UOY ERA TAHW!?" he scolded.

I put away the TNT and replaced it with the flint-and-steel, a smirk growing on my lips. He was basically asking what I was doing, but I didn't answer.

With words, anyway.

I walked over to a TNT in the back of the room, raising my flint-and-steel. The Squid guard's eyes turned wide as he opened his mouth to say two words in English: "Oh... shit..."

I struck the TNT with the flint-and-steel, making the block flash and start to hiss. The Squid guard ran out of the storage chamber, but I hung around. Again, the storage chamber had enough explosives to destroy the entire Squid base, but I was in no rush. I instead pulled out my Eye of Ender.

There was no way I was gonna blow up The Squids' base and _not_ tell my sister immediately afterwards.

The TNT finally exploded, and I was sent flying backwards to the front of the storage chamber. I only tucked myself into a ball and landed in a roll, effectively not breaking any bones. I watched as a few storage chests caught fire, burning to a crisp black and setting off the next three TNTs.

"Bye-bye, assholes," I said, closing my eyes and feeling my body melt away before the TNTs exploded.

I opened my eyes to look at the purple eyes of the Ender Dragon. I smiled jumped into the air, cheering as I remembered the carnage. "I did it, Eris! I destroyed a Squid Army base! I did it with TNT! Woo-hoo!"

The dragon nuzzled me, a comforting growl coming from its throat. I hugged the large, scaly neck, laughing still over what I had just done. "It's not much, but it's still a victory!"

The Eye of Ender did the obvious thing: It drifted over the Ender Dragon's head and projected the image of my little sister in her human form. Mist-Eris hugged me, almost solid. Her temperature wasn't like a normal person, but like a morning fog. Cool and nice to feel. I wrapped my arms around the mist-form of my little sister.

_You did it! Finally! A first step to recovery!_

"Recovery?"

_I mean... A first step to destroying The Squids!_

I nodded. "It was amazing! I blew it up with TNT from the storage room! It was awesome!"

Mist-Eris smiled. _Though, your friends worry. They think you're still in the base as it is destroyed._

I then bumped my head with my palm. "Of course! I forgot! I need to go!" I hugged the Ender Dragon then the Mist-Eris. "I'll come back later."

* * *

Sky POV—

I waited impatiently in The Audience HQ, tapping my fingers on a wooden desk. All of the Sky Army generals were waiting with me in The Audience HQ conference room silently. The plan was supposed to work, but it had been pretty long since we sent Athena and Susan into The Squids' bases.

"Snapp, are you sure the plan was supposed to work?" MUDKIPZ finally asked.

One of the leaders of Team Press Start nodded. "It's fool-proof. A 100% success rate. The perfect crime."

Bajan sighed. "Let's hope you're right, or we lose two important keys to our predicament."

Dawn walked into the conference room, plopping down into an empty chair and sighing. "Nothing so far."

"Anything else?" Toby asked.

Dawn shook her head. "Nope."

The silence went around the room and base for another ten minutes before we felt a rumble. The conference room began to shake, knocking most of us from our chairs. Bodil dove under the table. "Earthquake!"

The shaking went away, and we heard a cry from the hallway. When Ssundee went to the door to check it out, the iron door swung open, hitting Ssundee in the nose and sending him to the ground. "Ow..."

Del was at the door, a large smile that went from ear-to-ear stretched across her face. "They're back! They're back!"

No one hesitated to run out of the door, not even taking a second glance at the hurt Ssundee rolling on the ground.

I smiled happily as hundreds of captured recruits from Sky Army or the alliances piled into The Audience HQ. All of them were holding weapons and were relatively unscathed. Everyone was wearing prison jumpsuits except for a certain man. But I'll get to that later.

Susan ran to me and the other Sky Army generals (Minus Ssundee). "Woo-hoo! Did you guys see that explosion!?"

I shook my head. "No. We were in the conference room. We felt it though."

Athena then came from the crowd, the world's largest smile on her face. "That. Was..."

"What?" Antvenom asked.

"_Awesome!_ Oh my Notch! That explosion was beautiful! And we burned a painting of Derpollous! The prisoners were fucking amazing! That was just... just... _awesome!_" Athena shouted, jumping up and down. "That is so much more awesome then the fact that I'm part Wither! Woo!"_  
_

Everyone laughed, turning to Snapp. Chance and him were grinning like never before. "I told you! 100% success rate!"

* * *

**And, thus ends another chapter of the series.**

**Before I go, there are a few things you guys want me to discuss and clear up:**

**Number 1: Some people have been PM-ing me about how the fact that Dawn and Sky broke up in real life ruins the fact that Dawn and Sky are married and are gonna have a baby in this story. Sure, I will say that it does _kind of_ ruin that part, but I still want a happy ending for the two of them. And, sure, it may not work out in real life, but I still want Sky and Dawn to be together. So, the closet I can get to that wish is by including that in the series.  
**

**Deal with it!**

**Number 2: A few readers had voted on the poll on my profile, and sent requests for a certain choice in the poll. I won't release how many people voted, who voted, or what their requests were, but I will say the choice: _"We add one more popular Minecrafter."_**

**Now, I don't really know many other popular Minecrafters that you Readers might want, so I would really appreciate if you sent in requests if you vote that we add one more popular Minecraft.**

**And finally, Number 3:**

**(Ahem. Drum-roll, please.)**

**Please feel free to go onto my profile and vote on our poll for Part 5! I appreciate the help and suggestions in the future of the story!**

**A final salute, and I will see you in two days!**

**-The Awesomer**


	4. Chapter 4: Base Number 2

Sky POV—

That victory was like first blood to the Sky Army.

The prisoners all grew accustomed to the new people and the alliances that had formed among all the armies. Toby was _extremely _happy that there were no Squid Army hideouts near The Audience HQ. Everyone got new/old recruits back. Everything was normal.

Well, as normal as it could get.

After about an hour after the demolition of The Squids' base, everyone met up in the Skyhub 2013. People were still in battle gear, weapons and potions at the ready in case something happened. The structures of the iron golems were still at the ready for pumpkin heads to drop down, creating the iron beasts to kill the attackers. Everyone arrived, were assigned stations (a few people had to keep guard. Most of the archers had to take guard. That often meant Del, Polska, Ck, Bodil, Deadlox, and Kermit) and the meeting commenced.

This time, Noah and Marz stood in the middle. Marz held the map as Noah crossed out the base we had just taken out. "That was our first step to saving Minecraft forever for future generations. However, it is only one of possibly hundreds. And it isn't going to get any easier."

Susan walked up, holding a leather-bound book to show everyone. "This may help. This has coordinates, blueprints, directions, weapon designs—"

"_Give it here!_" Sparklez snatched the book and quickly flipped though the pages. "Holy squid shit! These designs are gonna be _fucking awesome!_"

Susan walked back into the circle. Sure, she hadn't finished, but she got the basic point across.

Noah continued: "The next target is where PBG and Markiplier's groups sometimes reside at."

The two groups started to protest. "Not _PBG-Markiplier HQ!_ That's bullshit!"

Marz pointed to a small red dot in the middle of a desert. "Look at the evidence, boys. It's right there, about 200 blocks south."

"Dammit!" Markiplier screamed to the ceiling above. "Why, Notch!? Why!?"

The two siblings continued: "The same deal: Prisoners that need to be freed and sent over to the closest base. Blow it up with TNT. Blah blah blah."

I shrugged. "That's it? That's the entire meeting?"

iAngel coughed. "There is one more thing."

Ethan stepped into the middle, the two children of Herobrine retreating to give the mute some room. Ethan cleared his voice, then spoke in his thick, Canadian voice: "There are two hybrids in this base. One is part Skeleton, and the other is part Spider. Now, these aren't normal hybrids like Athena. They don't maintain the human form."

The hybrid froze. "A Skeleton and a Spider?"

"Yes."

Athena nodded weakly. "Go on..."

Ethan continued: "Well, we believe that if these two hybrids are friendly and can cooperate with us, we might be able to to get two less suspicious people on the inside for more information."

I crossed my arms and shifted the weight on my feet. "So, what you're saying is that if we can find these hybrids _and_ they're friendly, we can use them for extra help?"

"Yes."

I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. As much as I doubted this, I knew this plan would work if we pulled it off. "Okay. We'll send two different people this time."

We all held a quick vote, ending up with the two people: Ruby and Sapphire.

* * *

Ruby POV—

Both my sister and I were voted to be sent into The Squids' next base, and I was nervous.

How many times in your life are you sent to do a dangerous mission with no training or anything like that?

Almost never.

The both of us walked through the desert with PBG, Kyrak, McJones, Markiplier, and Minion guiding us to their own hideout. Sapphire and I were talking about the plan and who would do what. We had to make a distraction, free the prisoners, and find the hybrids Ethan was talking about. Easy, right?

Well, easier said than done.

Kyrak tripped over something, face-planting in the hot sand. "Ow!"

PBG quickly put a hand over his mouth. "Shhhh!"

Sapphire pulled out her diamond sword. "I think was just found our secret hideout."

Minion took one step forward and knelt next to the ground. He carefully rapped his knuckles on the ground until we all heard the metallic _clang!_ We all shrunk back in sudden surprise. The iron door was cleverly hidden under a sheet covered in sand, almost like camouflage. If we had taken even one step to the east, we would have never found it.

Wow. The Squids were smarter than I thought.

McJones wiped some of the sweat from his brow. "Alrighty," he said. "You guys have everything you need, right?"

I pulled off my backpack and checked through our supplies. "TNT, flint-and-steel, some redstone, water, and our weapons." I nodded. "Yeah. I think we have everything we need."

PBG shook my sister's and I's hands. "We'll see you at our little HQ, right?"

Sapphire grinned. "Not like we're gonna send a few Squid guards over."

Kyrak chuckled, but only half heartedly. There was no joking around in this situation. Either we succeeded, or we failed. It was our decision. There was no stealing each others weapons for a joke, or mistakes. This wasn't those drills we practiced at The Alternate Army HQ. This was full-on real.

The group said good-bye, telling us where their small base was when the prisoners were free, then left. Sapphire took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "You ready?"

"No."

"Too bad." Sapphire brushed away some sand, taking a handful in her hand. "Who works for The Squids and who's the prisoner?"

I pointed at her. "You be the agent. I'll be the prisoner."

My sister nodded, brushing some sand from her sea-blue blouse. "Or, we can just bust in and do our business _really_ quickly.

I looked at her. "You mean, just go on a rampage?"

Sapphire grinned. "No shit."

I pondered this for a second, then shook my head. "What about the prisoners and the guards?"

My sister's blue eyes twinkled with a kind of happy mischief. "What _about_ the prisoners and the guards?"

* * *

Sapphire POV—

Wow. I almost died in front of my sister.

My plan had the basic components of the original plan: Make a distraction, free the prisoners, find the hybrids Ethan was talking about, blow the hideout up with TNT. Only, the events were to be switched up a little bit.

Phase one commenced: I burst into the hideout, blood covering my body. "Somebody! Sky Army is attacking outside! Send out the troops! Please!"

As I had hoped for, I got the immediate response that I wanted. Dozens of Squid guards ran outside from where I came from, weapons and armor ready for a battle that wasn't even going to happen.

"Ydal gnuoy! Sky Army eht si erehw?" one of the Squids yelled from the surface.

I heard Ruby's voice: "Surprise, motha fuckas!"

Phase two commenced: As I quickly slammed the iron door shut behind The Squids, the quiet twangs of a bowstring and a few screams could faintly be heard outside. I sighed as I wiped off the fake blood from around my eyes, which only turned out to be some redstone mixed with water. This was going to take no time at all.

_Rata-ta-ta-ta-ta-bump._

I opened the iron door back up, desert sand spilling in. Ruby was placing a few arrows back into her quiver, the dead guards around. her mouth was in a wide grin. "That was awesome!"

"Told ya."

Ruby quickly smeared the redstone-water mixture on her face and clothes, which blended in a little bit with her orange skirt but ruined her pink blouse. She looked at me, her red eyes glimmering with determination. "Let's get going."

As I turned to start running down the hall behind me, something lunged at Ruby. My twin sister gasped as I quickly threw myself in front of her. I was knocked to the ground as a Squid pinned me to the cobblestone ground. Ruby tried to pull the guard off of me, but was simply tossed aside like a rag doll, too far down the hall to help me in time. I cried out as he pulled out a squid knife, placing the blade on my throat. Ruby began running back towards me, fumbling with her bow the guard put pressure against the knife—

As a last resort, I grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at the guards eyes. He screamed in pain, dropping his blade to place his hands over his red eyes. I took the chance and threw him off of me. "Ruby!"

An arrow sprouted like a flower from the Squid's chest, and he fell forward. I was breathing hard, a hand protectively over my throat as Ruby finally made it to me. "You alright?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I think so."

She pulled me from the ground, pointing down the hall. "We gotta go."

* * *

Ruby POV—

Whoa. That was _really _scary, and _really_ close.

I sprinted down the hall, bow notched with a TNT arrow in case something happened. Sapphire was nearly killed because of our carelessness. She threw me aside to save my life. I owed her.

"Yeh! Sredrutni!"

My sister and I kept running down the hall, starting to limp. "Help! The Sky Army launched an attack outside! Send out the troops!" we screamed.

They still took the bait, running down the hall to run into a non-existent battle outside. Sapphire and I kept running down the hall laughing at gullibility of The Squids. "Oh my Notch! That is awesome!"

We made a turn to find a wooden door labeled "Ecnerefnoc Moor," or _"Conference Room."_ Sapphire used her diamond sword to cave in the dark wood. I walked in, pulling back my arrow with a fire charge on the arrowhead. Several Squids were sitting at the table, gasping and crying out. Sapphire and I stood shoulder-to-shoulder, weapons at the ready.

"Would you kindly give us directions to the prison cells, please?" I asked, flashing a sweet smile.

Every single Squid pointed to the left of the room. There was no door, but I knew they were talking about going left in the hall.

"Thank you very much," Sapphire said, placing a TNT on the table and struck it with a flint-and-steel. We both ran out of the room just as the red and white block burst into a brilliant flash of white light.

Sapphire skidded to a stop. "Squids!"

I stopped as well. There were about two-dozen Squids standing in the hall, weapons as the ready. I turned on my heels and dashed the other way, Sapphire following.

Another two-dozen Squid guards appeared at the other end of the hall, screaming and raising their weapons.

We both skidded to another stop. "Shit!"

My twin and I went back-to-back. There was no way we were going to get out of this situation without having to fight. I raised my bow, notching an arrow with a fire charge. Sapphire held her sword in front of her, standing in her attack stance.

"Sevil ruoy eraps llahs ew dna, won rednerrus!" one of The Squids on my side shouted.

"Fuck you!" I sent an arrow flying, the tip bursting into a sphere of fire that matched my skirt. The arrow hit home, the fire vanishing before the Squid itself was engulfed in flames. The fire quickly spread, the flames licking The Squids next to him as they caught fire.

"Woo!" I cheered.

All of The Squids that were facing me were now lying on the floor, fire crackling and spreading the wooden walls.

I notched another arrow—something called a _Spread Arrow_—and turned on my heels. Sapphire was up to her neck in Squids trying to kill her, which probably wasn't gonna end well.

"Sapphire! Hit the floor!" I yelled, drawing back my bowstring.

My sister dove to the ground as I released my grip on the arrow. The arrowhead popped into a cloud of poisoned shards of flint and wood. Each shard implanted themselves in one of The Squids, making them scream and fall to the ground. The poisons quickly took effect, and the guards died.

Sapphire jumped from the ground. "Nice job."

"Now we're even."

* * *

Sapphire POV—

Ruby and I dashed down the corridor until we reached an iron door labeled "Nosrip," or _"Prison."_

Pretty self-explanatory, really.

Ruby pulled back a TNT arrow, aiming at the door. I started the countdown. "Three... two... one..."

"FIRE IN THE HOLE, BITCHES!"

The explosion crumpled the door like aluminum, tearing away to reveal dozens of angry guards. All of them had bows notched with arrows, but the arrows had a dark, navy blue liquid dripping from the arrowheads.

Squid blood. No doubt.

I raised my enchanted diamond sword, a smirk tugging lightly at my lips. "Hello!"

The Squids took a few steps towards us, a show of threat.

My sister turned to me. "I guess we didn't miss the welcoming party."

The prisoners began to cheer, realizing that we were help. "Woo! Sky Army for the win!"

"Alternate Army!"

"The Audience!"

"The Dwellers!"

"Team Press Start!"

The Squids lowered their guard for a split second to shut them up, and Ruby took that as a chance. She pulled out a _Spread/TNT_ arrow—a mix of the TNT and Spread arrow, if it wasn't obvious enough—and it fly.

"Duck!" my twin yelled, and I dove to the left.

The arrowhead burst into a cloud of miniature TNT blocks, flashing twice before exploding. The Squid guards flew all around the prison, slamming against the cell bars and stone walls. The Squids crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

Ruby put a hand to her mouth in a mock surprise. "Oops!"

I pulled out the TNT, a smile forming as I turned my attention to the prisoners. "Ya ready to get out of this Nether-hole?"

Loud cheers and hoots filled the air, answering my question. I passed a few TNT blocks to sister, motioning to the left. "I'll take the right."

"Gotcha."

I placed down the red and white TNT _like a boss,_ quickly throwing it down and striking it with the flint-and-steel. In a few flashes and startled screams, all of the prisoners walked out, running to a wooden door that was the weapon closet.

"Ruby! Sapphire!"

My twin and I turned to see a familiar girl. She was about our age, dressed in normal prison clothes except for the red and white plaid bow tied in her long coffee brown hair. She was holding a bow in her hand, the world's largest grin on her face. We both gasped and ran to the girl. "Ray! Oh my gosh!" I said.

The girl laughed, flashing her white teeth. "Thank Notch! I've been here for the last two years!"

"Really? That's what happened to you?" my firey twin asked.

"Yeah! Fucking hated it here!"

I laughed. "Good to see you again, really! But, we have some unfinished business." I pulled out the last nine TNT explosives in my backpack. "We gotta blow this place to the Nether."

Ray nodded. "Alright. Where do the rest of us go?"

Ruby pointed to the open door. "Down the hall, take a right and you'll find the exit. Lead everyone else over there and start heading north at the surface. you'll soon find a small base with five people. Those are a few of our friends. We'll meet you there."

Ray nodded, turning on her heels and raising her bow. "Everyone follow me! I know a way out!"

"YEEEEAAH!"

The hundreds of lost recruits followed our long-lost friend out, and we were left alone.

My sister then bumped her head. "Shit! We forgot about the hybrids!"

Fuck. We really did for get about them, but I knew something. I pointed to the door at the opposite end, a sign reading "Sllec Ytiruces Mumixam."

_"Maximum Security Cells," _I pointed out. We both busted in, finding a _big _surprise.

Inside, were hundreds of hostile monsters. From skeletons, to zombies, to spiders, to magma cubes, to even an injured Wither. Each one was held in a container made of enchanted obsidian.

"Fuck. What were the hybrids of again?" I asked.

"Um... I think a Skeleton and a Spider."

I looked to see the monsters again. There were _dozens_ of skeletons and spiders. But were these all hybrids...?

I raised my hands. "If any of you can talk, please do so!"

A cell to my left had two small voices rise from the obsidian: "We can."

I turned on my heels to see a spider-jockey, only the skeleton wasn't sitting on the spider. There was a saddle, though...

The Skeleton sat on the ground, looking tired and worn, it's bow hanging limply at its side. The spider was on the ceiling of the cell, spinning a web in boredom, hissing as its leg got caught in the sticky strands.

The skeleton looked at us. "And my we ask why you want to know?" It was a female, no doubt.

I stumbled over the words on my tongue. "Um... er... uh... a special order from Sky Army?"

The spider looked down. "Sky Army, eh? We used to work for The Audience." He had a deep male voice, though only a young teenager's voice.

Ruby took a cautious step forward. "Hm. Sky Army and The Audience are allies now. Did you know that?"

The Skeleton shook its head, the bones making a _click-clack-click-clack!_ "Unfortunately, we cannot hear recent news that often, nowadays."

The Spider hopped from its perch and onto the ground. "Why would Sky Army need us? We do not have a good purpose."

"You might hold the key to destroying The Squids forever."

"Oh... that is a good purpose," the Skeleton replied.

I nodded. "Please. We need to help you. Besides, we're about to blow this place to shit."

The two hybrids though for a minute before finally saying "yes." My twin fired a TNT arrow at the obsidian, and it shattered like a piece of glass.

So much for enchanted obsidian.

The spider-jockey crawled out of the prison, both of the monsters looking partly angry, partly happy, partly depressed. I had no idea why. All four of us dashed down the hall, placing our remaining TNT as we did so. I only left one at the end of the hall just before the exit came into sight, so Ruby could shoot an arrow to set the trap off."YEH! EREH REVO TEG!"

_Fuck,_ I muttered under my breath. We were only thirty blocks from the exit. An enemy arrow whizzed past my ear as we all sprinted faster to the exit.

"Now!" Ruby and the Skeleton pulled back their bowstrings, and fired two arrows at the TNT near the end of the hall. The block flashed white as we slammed the iron door behind us and leaned all our weight against it.

**_BOOOOOOOOM! _**Smoke rose from the doors, and we all relaxed. I closed my eyes for a second, finally getting some rest."You do realize that would have gone faster if we had just copied what Athena and Susan did in the previous base, right?" my firey-twin sister noted.I laughed. "Yes. But what we did was just more epic and awesome!""Ruby! Sapphire!"

I opened my eyes. Ray was running from the north, a huge smile on her grimy face. "THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME! EVERYONE WATCHED!"

* * *

**And so ends another epic chapter.  
**

**So, as you may have noticed, I have brought back a character I had forgotten about from Part 2 (Sorry to arianagrandeluver! THERE ARE SO MANY OCS AND CHARACTERS THAT I SOMETIMES FORGET ABOUT A FEW! I almost forgot about Ethan!)**

**Anyways, leave a vote in the poll displayed on my profile before August 24 at midnight, and I will see you next time.**

**-The Awesomer**


	5. Chapter 5: Base Number 3

Sky POV—

Ruby and Sapphire couldn't stop talking about what they did in The Squids' base. Apparently it was really awesome.

"And then—! And then Sapphire was like: _Now!_ Then, I shot an arrow that the TNT, and it was like: _Whoosh!_" Ruby babbled on.

"Yeah! Then—! Then we were pushing the door shut, and then there was fire that came from the door! It was like: "_Whooooom!_" Sapphire backed up.

Ray—and old friend of the Sky Army and I—nodded enthusiastically. "It was fucking awesome! Everyone was watching!"

I patted them on the backs. "Well, that was a little unorthodox, but it worked. Good job guys."

The trio squealed and ran off, cheering at their victory and telling people what happened.

Vic, Ethan, Minecraftuniverse, MUDKIPZ, and Antvenom walked up to me with the Spider-jockey. The Spider-jockey was pretty normal; it was just a talking female Skeleton riding on a talking male Spider that were both friendly.

That was totally a normal thing, right?

"Hello, Sky," the Spider said.

I fought of the instincts to draw my sword and slice the head off of it. "Welcome to Sky Army HQ."

"Thank you very much. We hated it in The Squids' prison. They kept injecting us with these weird things." The Skeleton plucked boredly at her bowstring, creating a dull _thrum... thrum..._

Ethan pointed at Vic, and he pointed to the Spider-jockey. "We talked to them earlier. Apparently, they don't remember their real name. They remember that they were human, and they worked for The Audience, but they don't know their names."

I cocked my head. "Did you have any family members you remember? Your birthdays? Anything?"

The Spider shook his head (which looked pretty interesting, really). "Nothing. Just that we used to work for The Audience."

I wiped some sweat from my brow. "Huh. In that case, we should give you some names..." I pointed at the Skeleton. "How about... Viola."

The Skeleton nodded. "Seems good enough."

I pointed at the spider. "And..." I pondered for a second before saying: "Felix," I said. "How do those sound?"

The Skeleton and the Spider nodded. "Those sound fine."

"Awesome."

Ck, Minion, Markiplier, Chance, and Caveman walked towards us. "Well, we don't wanna miss out on the action. Where's the next base that we can blow to the Nether?"

Marz and Noah teleported next to us, holding their weapons. "Yo, Sky," Noah said. "We found some humans, but we don't know whether to trust them or not."

"Are they wearing any squid armor? Squid weapons?" I asked.

"Nope. Just basic leather armor and diamond swords. We got Lignite, Blabid, Luna, and Polska down there already," Marz answered.

I placed a hand on my budder sword. "Are they threatening us in anyway?"

"No. They're defending themselves, but they aren't threatening us."

"You guys are fighting these people?" Vic said.

"They tried to kill Lignite! Would you fight for one of your friends if someone tried to kill them?"

The leader of the Alternate Army went silent.

I wiped my nose. "How many people are there?"

The children of Herobrine talked quietly between each other before saying: "Erm… uh… around five? Six?"

I nodded. "Alright. Get Ssundee, PBG, Toby, and Seto. Send them over. Maybe they can negotiate with them and we can bring them over here."

Marz nodded. "Okay. We'll see you in a minute."

* * *

Dawn was sitting on her bed in our quarters, twiddling her thumbs nervously.

I carefully sat down next to her, putting my arms on her shoulder. "You okay?"

She nodded, slowly and almost robotically.

I looked in her eyes. They were their normal multicolor hues, shifting and changing every few seconds. But she was obviously a million miles away from where she was now. I didn't know what was wrong with her, but I didn't think it was bad.

"You sure?" I asked.

Dawn nodded again, as slow as she did seconds ago.

"Well, do you wanna talk?"

She turned to me, eyes still shifting. "I…"

I looked at her. "Did The Squids try to kill you again?"

"No… I think…" Her eyes started to glisten, almost watery. "They…"

"Yes?"

Dawn stared at me for one more second, then broke into tears. "They threatened me! They said they would kill you, me, the Sky Army! Everyone we know unless we give them our baby!"

I looked at her, eyes wide. "What?"

"They're going to kill us unless we give them our baby! Our baby!" Dawn buried her head in her hands. "I don't know what to do! We can't give them our baby! But they threatened to poison our water source! Our food! Put TNT under the Sky Army HQ!"

I rubbed her back, trying to comfort her. "They won't get the baby. I promise, Dawn."

She turned her head, her eyes already red and puffy. "But what about Sky Army? Everyone else!"

I smiled. "We'll find a way. We always do, Dawn."

She kept crying for another ten minutes, face buried deep into my shoulder. My shoulder was soaked by the time she calmed down enough to stop. She was tightly hugging her belly, as if protecting our child with everything she could.

I flashed a brave smile. "Nothing will happen to us, and we won't give them the baby."

* * *

Markiplier POV—

Fuck. Yeah.

I was one of the next few people that was supposed to go to the next Squid Army base and blow it to shit, along with Ck, Minion, Chance, and Caveman. The closest one was near Team Press Start HQ, just a few blocks east.

Wow. They didn't have the intelligence to, I don't know, maybe put their bases in a safer place?

"TNT, flint-and-steel, a few arrows, our swords. We'z gots everything!" Chance said in a joking manner.

Caveman pointed to his backpack. "Don't forget about our new weapons."

Sparklez had designed new weapons and tools from the book Susan and Athena had gotten in the first base. He had created new arrows, swords, daggers, axes, pickaxes, and plenty of other things. One of them was a grenade; several gun-powders stuffed into a some leaves. When you pulled a twig from the leaves, a flame would be produced, and it would explode exactly seven seconds later. It would also work when you chucked it at the ground hard enough.

"Okay. We ready?" Ck stomped on the ground, producing a dull wooden _thump..._

I nodded. "_YOLO mode,_ activated."

Caveman and Minion brushed away a patch of dirt, revealing a wooden door. I notched an arrow on my bow; a smoke arrow that Sparklez had designed from the book Susan and Athena had retrieved. It was pretty obvious what it did: it made a smoke screen that would blind anyone directly in the cloud. This would be pretty useful for our mission.

"Mark, as soon as we open the door, shoot," Minion said.

I nodded, drawing back my arm and aiming for the door. "One. Two. Three!"

The two pulled off the wooden door and I released my grip on the arrow, the feathers brushing lightly on my fingers along the way. The projectile disappeared in the corridor, no longer in our sight. Only a few seconds later, I saw a quick flash of blue light, and heard the cries and coughs of other people.

"Go!"

We all ducked in, our steps light and soundless as we passed several coughing and hacking Squidlantians, none of them noticing us. As we skirted around the screen of white smoke, Caveman threw a grenade into the chaos. The impact made the weapon explode, killing all of the Squidlantians in the smoke.

"Yeh! Sredurtni!"

Ck, Minion, Caveman, Chance, and I sprinted as fast as we could down the corridor. "Where's the prison!?" I yelled.

"Hang a left!" Chance answered. He had taken the opportunity of memorizing the blueprints of the base we were in now, knowing exactly where each room and hall lead to. "Take a right!"

I notched a TNT arrow, stopping to turn around and fire the arrow at the Squidlantian guards following closely behind us. The arrow landed straight into a guard's chest, exploding seconds later as he hit the ground. A dozen Squids died.

"Bye!" I said, dashing back to catch up with my friends.

Chance tackled an iron door, thrusting his sword through a squid guard instantly and kicking away another. The prisoners started to hoot and holler instantly.

"Finally! We can be free!"

"Fuck you, Squids!"

"Yeah! I'm part of the resistance!"

"Bacon!"

Ck and Minion instantly began to place down TNT around the prison, striking it with the flint-and-steel and allowing the prisoners to run from their cells and to the weapon closet. Every grabbed anything they wanted, and ran out the front door.

"THERE IS A SMALL HIDEOUT JUST WEST OF THE EXIT! HEAD OVER THERE IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"YEAH!"

Caveman, Minion, Ck, and Chance were already placing down the remaining TNT in the exact center of the prison, dancing and lollygagging a little. "Fuck yeah! This is gonna be the fastest mission, _ever!_"

I held up a TNT arrow. "Let's get going. Caveman, would you mind tossing a grenade?"

"With pleasure."

Two seconds later, we were running for dear life down the corridor. The TNT was now hissing.

"Five! Four! Three! Two..!" we counted down together.

All five of us dove out of the exit, covering our heads as the TNT blew the underground lair and everyone inside to bits. The prisoners we had just freed were dancing and cheering. "THAT WAS FUCKING AMAZING! THANK YOU!"

* * *

**Sorry for the lack of quality, guys. I have my first big test at school tomorrow and I don't want to get an _F_ right off the bat of my school year.**

**Anyways, make sure to leave a vote in the poll on my profile, and I will see you soon.**

**-The Awesomer**


	6. Chapter 6: Aether and Nether

Sky POV—

I sighed and ran a hand through my long hair, watching as Markiplier, Ck, Caveman, and Chance came back victorious from my perch on top of the main building.

We should go congratulate them. They finished the mission in less than 45 minutes—

_Fuck that! What about Dawn!? Your baby!?_

I had always described my brain as split as two different people, so my mind was often getting into fights with itself. This was normal, and I had known about it since my childhood. It was like having two conscious', but both hated each other.

My mind was having a battle in what to do with my new situation. How would I solve this? Would I hurry up and get into the main base? Outsmart them? i mean, we were talking about _The Squids._ It was pretty easy when it came to outsmarting them.

_You can always take Dawn somewhere else. Give her a new name, change her appearance, give her a whole new life until the war was over..._

I propped my head on my chin as the group of victors and other recruits walked into the base, smiling and joking around. It reminded me from when I was younger, messing around even in the most serious of situations. That was before I discovered budder.

I felt a raindrop fall onto my nose, but I only brushed it away. I could wait for a little bit, since nothing bad would happen. A little rain wouldn't kill me, right?

And how long will the war last, genius? A week? Month? Years? Never? Dawn could give birth any minute! Two weeks at the most!

_But still, it would be better than letting The Squids take away your kid! You could evacuate the Sky Army HQ secretly before they tried to kill us—_

"Both of you: Shut the fuck up," I told myself, trying to silence the argument.

_Fuck off. We're getting close to an answer._

Oh! "Close to an answer?" I think not!

_You're being selfish! The answer is to take her away to somewhere safe and give her a new life until the war is over!_

No! It's to outsmart them and fight back while she's safe in Sky Army HQ!

_Take her somewhere else!_

Outsmart them and fight back!

_Away!_

Outsmart!

"BOTH OF YOU! SHUT! THE! FUCK! UP!" I yelled, standing up and hitting myself on the head. "I'm going to do both!"

_Oh Notch, no!_

I'm with him. That is the worst idea you have ever come up with, Sky!

"Well, both of you guys are me! So, basically, this is the worst idea we have ever come up with," I countered.

_Fuck me._

Why, Notch! Why am I part of this man?

"Fuck you both, then." I sat back down on my perch again, the rain starting to pick up. "Either way, both of them are gonna work."

_Meh… good point._

Dammit. I knew I should have been with Oliver. At least he's sane.

"Shut up. We've combined your plans in the past. Remember The Great Budder Takeover?"

_Ha! We broke into one of the bases to kill The Squids…_

And we replaced every Squid with a small budder tower before throwing budder all over the remains.

The clouds overheard created a dark overcast, the entire training grounds of the Sky Army HQ emptying as the recruits and generals went inside. The rain was cold and refreshing in a way. I found myself turning my face to the sky as the cool droplets hit me and ran down my face. They felt too cold to be real. Artificial.

Ah. How long had it been since I had felt something as refreshing as this?  
_  
So, what's your exact plan?_I drifted away from my thoughts, enjoying the cold rain falling on my face. Why was I so captured in the rain, I didn't know. It just felt… right.  
_  
_Hellooo? Minecraft to Sky. Minecraft to Sky. Come in, Sky."Rain…" I ?"Rain," I repeated. "It feels good."I heard the muffled sounds of thunder in the distance, but I ignored it. The rain was the only thing that I was focusing on for now…

_Sky? I think you should move. I see lightning._

I snapped back to reality. What was I doing? It was a thunder storm, and I was just sitting out here like a brainless zombie. "Shit." As I stood up to move, I saw a flash of lightning and heard the sound of an injured pig. I looked into our outside animal-pens to see a zombie-pigman, looking around curiously.

"Whoa. The lightning is pretty close, am I right, guys?" I said.

I got no answer.

"Guys?"

I finally sighed in relief. Finally, the split minds in my head were gone. I could have some peace and quiet.

I hoped down from the roof of the main building, taking a stop to kill the zombie-pigman before standing alone in the training grounds. What was my exact plan? Where would I take Dawn to hide her?

"The tree house."

The tree house was my old hideout for when I though I was half-Squid, but it only turned out to be a sub-species of squids. Something called The Parasitic Squid. When I ran away, I built a tree house hidden in the leaves that was really hard to spot. I hadn't been there in almost a year. Dawn knew about it. I knew about it.

It would be perfect.

"But… I killed her there…" I mumbled.

It was true. Before I was finally cured from the parasite, I had accidentally killed Dawn in there. I knew she had forgiven me, because I wasn't in control of myself, but I swore to myself that no one would ever go back there.

But what about now?

I sighed, leaning against a fencepost on the animal-pens. I didn't want to do this, but it was for the sake of Sky Army, Dawn, and the baby.

"The tree house it is," I mumbled to myself.

As for outsmarting The Squids, that was going to be harder.

I looked up at the sky, wiping away the raindrops that landed on my sunglasses. I then knelt, closing my eyes and thinking.

"Lord Notch," I started off. "I have been in your debt for the years we have been in war. You have sent us your children. You have personally come to deliver messages and guided us. You have blessed us and brought us happiness. You have given us extraordinary gifts. You have given Dawn a second chance…"

My voice broke, the memory of seeing Dawn standing outside of my quarters.

"…I ask for one last favor. I wish to know what we may do to end this war forever. To finally bring peace to the humans and the squids. To finally finish the bloodshed and tears of lost loved-ones."  


Nothing happened. I was just kneeling in the mud, my clothes now soaked.

I sighed. I had never doubted the power of our creator, but I was now desperate and stressed beyond possibility. Maybe even he didn't know.

I stood up, attempting to brush the mud from my knees but further smeared it into my pants. "I guess we will find our own way."

Then the lightning struck me.

* * *

"What the fuck!?"

I couldn't hear myself speak. I couldn't move. I couldn't feel anything (Minus the adrenaline pumping 300 miles per hour through my body). As far as I knew, I wasn't even in front of Sky Army HQ anymore.

I was just... floating through a void of nothingness. There was no exact color, no exact place or time. Just... nothingness.

"Well, this is a change of view."

I blinked, and I was standing on my feet, able to move and feel. I still couldn't hear myself as I called out: "_Hello?"_

_Ah, so Notch really did answer._

I turned, seeing myself standing about five blocks away. Well, it had the basic attributes that I had: Brown hair, sunglasses, and the necklace with the purple jewel surrounded by four sections of budder. Everything else was completely different: His clothes were white, his shoes midnight black, and his gloves were maroon red. Like an alternate me.

I took a step forward. "Who the fuck are you!?" I demanded, able to hear my voice again.

The alternate-me put a hand to his chin. _Clueless. You should know me. I've been with you since the beginning._

The realization slapped me in the face. "You're one of the voices in my head."

He nodded, walking to me and inspecting. _Strange, is it not? To see yourself in a whole new way. It's like trying a new fighting technique, or a new point of view._

Oh, shut up. Like you would know. You don't even exist in the outside world.

I turned again to see another alternate me. He had the same attributes as me: Brown hair, etc. His clothes were a deep red, like a raging fire. His shoes had a light orange color. His gloves were fingerless with a bright yellow, like budder.

_Shut up yourself. You've never existed in the outside world either._

At least I admit to it, unlike you.

_Fuck off._

You fuck off.

I realized who the other person was. "You're the other voice in my mind."

No shit, Sherlock.

I looked at the two alternate-mes. "Okay. I think I can live with this. But, _why_ am I here?"

_You prayed for help, right? So, we are helping you.  
_

Okay, Aether, please stop talking like you're a wise man. I'm not a wise man. You're not a wise man. Stop acting like it.

_Fuck__ off, Nether.__  
_

You fuck off.

I stopped them. "Shut the fuck up, both of you!"

I looked at the alternate me in the white clothes. "I guess I'm calling you Aether."

_Yes. And that retarded excuse for help is Nether._

"Are you like... 'Evil and Good?' "

Hahahahaha! Oh my Notch! That is hilarious! No! Why would you assume that!?

"Because your names are 'Aether and Nether.' Wouldn't you think that you both were 'Evil and Good?' "

_No! You just chose those names for us!_

"When did I come up with those names?"

When you first realized we were gonna be with you for the rest of your life. You thought Aether was the better one and I was the bitter one, so you gave us the names "Aether and Nether."

I sighed. "Um... okay. But anyways, why am I here again?"

You wanted help, genius, Nether answered.

I nodded at him. "Okay. But before you say anything else... _why the fuck was I struck by lightning?__!_

_What did you expect, Sky? An invitation to a nice tea party with some biscuits and sugar cubes? No. We're in your mind, so we had to zap you into your unconscious mind,_ Aether replied.

"So, I'm in my mind. I understand that. Then what about my body?" I asked.

Fried to a crisp. Your really dead.

"WHAT?!"

Joking, doofus. No, your body is actually back on top of the roof. You would not believe how high your body catapulted!

I nodded, turning to Aether next. "And, if we already talked about the plan earlier on the roof, why are _you_ guys talking to me? I prayed to Notch."

_True. Notch actually sent us to deliver his message,_ Aether answered.

"And the message?"

Your fucked unless you can find one more hybrid to work with the Sky Army.

"But, we have Athena, Viola, and Felix. They're all hybrids. And don't we have Lignite, Blabid, and Luna? The children of Notch and Herobrine? Team Press Start? The Alternate Army? The Audience? The Dwellers? Who else would we need?"

_You'll need to ask Athena._

"Why?"

She's related to the last hybrid, idiot, Nether said in matter-of-factly tone.

"Okay. Now I can see why I named you 'Aether and Nether,' " I commented.

_Thank you!_ Aether exclaimed.

Fuck you then, Sky.

I sighed, turning to Nether. "Anything else, Professor Dick-Weed?"

Um... yes, actually. Notch said something like: "Don't let the hybrids get sent to 'Stone Cold Death.' "

_And may I suggest not sending out your recruits for normal supply missions. That's how most of them were captured, recaptured, and killed._

I nodded. "Okay. Can I go back to my body now?"

_Good-bye, Sky. We hope to see you again,_ Aether said.

Nope. Just you. I wish I had never even chose to go into the same person with you, Nether muttered.

* * *

**Aaaaaaand, that would be Chapter 6!**

**Now, most of you people are yelling about me making the last chapter a little too rushed.**

**Like I said, I had a very important first test the next morning, and I didn't want to get a bad grade straight off the bat.  
**

**Also, I got my first A+ on my first test of the school year! I hadn't had one in two years! Yeah!**

**Anyways, be sure to vote in the polls on my profile before August 24th at midnight, and make sure to favorite, follow, and review!  
**

**A final salute, and I will see you soon!**

**So, tell me, Awesomer Army Members: "What was your favorite Part so far in the series?"**

**-The Awesomer**


	7. Chapter 7: Trolling and Banana Suits

Sky POV—

I woke up in midair. 'Nuff said.

"What the—? Holy—!"

I was falling, the lightning still flashing around me. The main building was below, a few dozen blocks below me.

Whoa. Nether wasn't exaggerating.

I landed hard on the obsidian roof, a dull _thump!_ coming from where I landed.

"Ow..." I moaned, getting onto my feet and regaining my breath. "I still don't get the lightning, guys."

Suck it up and deal with it.

_Calm down, Nether. Can there ever be a moment where you can actually be nice?_

No.

I sighed, cradling my head in my hands. "Okay. I am just going to ignore you guys for a period of time, okay?"

Silence.

"Thank you." I straightened my sunglasses on my face and checked my budder sword. "Now, where are Athena and the others?"

* * *

Luna POV—

"Are you guys sure this is a good idea?" I asked, a tinge of doubt in my voice. "I mean, we never really clarified where we were. What if they capture us?"

"Oh, stop being a chicken, Luna," iAngel snickered. "This is the most fun we've had since... I don't know. How long, Polska?"

"Fifteen months, four weeks, two days, twenty hours, twelve minutes, and thirty-two seconds," Polska responded, her devilish grin growing bigger by the second. "This is gonna be _awesome!_"

Sierra, Kate, Del, and Zhubox held up a dummy grenade that Sparklez had designed, desperately trying to hold in their laughs. All of my brothers and sisters—including Marz and Noah—were taking over the next Squid hideout.

Um... did I say "take over?" I meant "raid."

That's right. "Raid."

"Isn't this what some of the recruits call... _Trolling?_" Marz asked.

"No if it's for a good cause!" Polska answered. "C'mon, guys! I thought we used to do this all the time!" She was the one leading the raid, for pretty obvious reasons.

"Yeah... then we grew up," Zhubox said. "But... what the Nether? Let's do dis!"

Noah pulled out his sword and tapped it lightly on the dirt ground, a random skeleton growing from the soil. Marz touched it's forehead, and it fell back apart and sunk into the ground. "I don't remember having fun since..." Marz trailed off. "Since Noah and I left that village when we were kids. I had just met Sky, Minecraftuniverse, and Deadlox, and I haven't seen them after that. As a kid, that is."

Noah sheathed his sword and put his arms behind his head in a relaxed way. "I... I don't really remember having fun since I was... gosh, how long? Seven? Eight?"

Marz looked at him funny. "Really? I would have thought that you had lots of fun whenever we traveled around with Pan."

Noah shook his head. "Yeah. You would have figured that. But since we never stay anywhere for long, and then you were born and I had to take care of you. Then... there was my 15th birthday."

Everyone knew what happened on Noah's 15th birthday. He had gotten his first sword from his real father: Herobrine. The second he realized what Marz and him really knew, his life became _incredibly _dangerous. It was the same with my siblings and I: The minute we found out that Notch was our father, we were immediately hated by every monster.

Things could be worse.

Del laughed. "The last time we had fun like this was when we were first arriving at the palace of our father in the Aether. I pushed Luna off a cloud..."

"Polska chucked a fake fire charge at us," Zhubox added.

Kate and Sierra snickered. "We both switched the ambrosia drinks you guys had with some water mixed with Nether-quartz!"

iAngel laughed. "Polska and I put portals next to your beds!"

"I remember that!" I exclaimed. "We woke up in a random village with villagers that wanted to trade a block of dirt for three emeralds!"

Everyone laughed, our stomachs hurting from all the laughing. "Oh Notch, those were good times."

"Yo!" Polska dove into the dirt. "Hideout just over the hill. Go into incognito!"

We all hit the dirt, laughing and snickering at out plan. I had to admit, what our plan was turned out to be really stupid, dangerous, and...

Hilarious.

"iAngel. Zhubox. Got what you need for _Phase One?"_ iAngel asked.

"Yep."

"Good. Initiate _Phase One._ Go!"

* * *

Wow. You would not _believe _what _Phase One_ was.

"IT'S PEANUT BUTTER-JELLY TIME! PEANUT BUTTER-JELLY TIME! PEANUT BUTTER-JELLY TIME!" Zhubox cried loudly as he and iAngel ran over to the Squid hideout...

Wearing banana suits.

"WHERE HE AT! WHERE HE AT! WHERE HE AT! WHERE HE AT!" iAngel ran up to the closest guard and slapped him in the face, sending him into the ground. "THERE HE GO! THERE HE GO! THERE HE GO! THERE HE GO!"

"Kcuf eht tahw?" a few guards yelled, staring at my brother and sister as they danced in the banana costumes.

I turned to Polska, looking at her as she rolled on the ground laughing. "What. The. Fuck?"

She gasped through fits of laughter. "Ah! Ow! My belly! Ow! Ha! Ha ha!"

Noah, Marz, Del, Kate, and Sierra were screaming with laughter. "_Phase One _is awesome!"

I looked down as Zhubox grabbed a tree branch and smacked another guard, leaving a deep red mark as he screamed: "PEANUT BUTTER-JELLY WITH A BASEBALL BAT!"

I burst into laughter. "Yeah!"

The guards finally began to chase the banana-duo, dancing around trying to catch them. We all shrieked with laughter, tears running down our cheeks and our stomachs heaving. Nothing had ever been as funny as this.

"Hey! Why are you guys Trolling without me?"

We all looked to see Bodil himself standing behind us, his devilish grin reaching from ear-to-ear. He saluted. "Trolling-King, reporting for duty!"

"Woo-hoo! Wez gotz Bodil!" Del cheered.

"Yes! This is awesome!" Noah bellowed.

Polska held up a grenade. "Would you care to do _Phase Two?_"

"With pleasure."

Bodil hefted the grenade once, then threw it over the hill, watching as the grenade exploded in a 55-block radius. Most of the Squid guards were killed just as iAngel and Zhubox yelled: "NOW BREAK IT DOWN AND FREEZE!"

We all jumped up and cheered; "_Best distraction ever!_"

When we all made it down the hill, my siblings were panting, pulling off the banana suits and high-fiving us. "Nice job, guys."

Marz, Sierra, and Kate all squealed. "We got Bodil with us!"

Bodil smiled. "What's _Phase Three?_"

Polska grinned evilly. "_Phase Three: Repeat with TNT._"

* * *

This is the best plan ever.

I pulled on the banana suit with Sierra and Marz, laughing loudly by the time we finished. "We look so retarded!"

Kate and Noah were about to pull open the doors, holding grenades for backup if something happened. "Ready?"

"Nether yeah!"

Noah swallowed, looking at his sister. "Are you sure you wanna do this, Marz? I mean, if something happens to you or us?"

The daughter of Herobrine laughed. "Don't worry! We'll be fine! We always are!"

He nodded. "O—Okay. Whatever you say..."

They both pulled open the doors, and we raced in: "IT'S PEANUT BUTTER-JELLY TIME! PEANUT BUTTER-JELLY TIME!"

The Squidlantians stared at us in shock as we ran through the halls, pulling out our swords and bows along the way. We fired different arrows and kept killing every Squidlantian guard we passed, laughing as we shouted out the weirdest song on Minecraft.

"What the fuck!?" one of the guards yelled, before I sent an arrow into his skull.

"WHERE HE AT! WHERE HE AT! WHERE HE AT! WHERE HE AT!" I screamed.

"NOW THERE HE GO! THERE HE GO! THERE HE GO!" Marz responded.

"PEANUT BUTTER-JELLY WITH A BASEBALL BAT! PEANUT BUTTER-JELLY WITH A BASEBALL BAT!" Sierra screamed, stabbing her sword through a Squid's throat.

By the time we made it to the prison, we had finished the song and our spree for the ump-teenth time. We all were panting, our banana suits covered in blood and sweat. Most of the prisoners weren't saying anything. They were just staring.

"Don't ask," I said. Pulling out some TNT and beginning to place it against the prison walls.

"We heard you guys from 150 blocks away!" one of the female prisoners commented.

"Good. This goes to show what Trolls can do, bitches," Marz said, lighting a TNT and watching it blow up.

Most of the prisoners were freed by the time back up Squidlantian guards came, and we took them out pretty quickly.

Bodil walked in, holding up an armload of TNT. I grinned and began to place them down in random places, waving the prisoners to the exit at the same time. "Sky Army recruits will be waiting outside to escort you to Sky Army HQ. Do not stop for _anything._"

* * *

**As much as I hate to end it here, I need to. I'm finally working on the _real_ action in Part 5! I know all of you are going to like it!**

**Also, I have no idea why I put a "Peanut Butter-Jelly Time" reference in there. But then again, why did I put "BACON!" in Chapter 6?**

**Because I could, now deal with it.**

**Anyways, be sure to check out the final results on the polls on my profile, and I will see you soon!**

**So tell me, Awesomer Army Members: What's your favorite Skydoesminecraft moment?**

**-The Awesomer**


	8. Chapter 8: Sky, Meet Eris

Noah POV—

I sat on a nearby rock, cleaning my sword.

It was hard to let my sister go into a Squid Army base with only two other people. I was scared for her. If something happened to her, and I didn't know about it.

"TNT!" Del screamed, throwing a grenade at the base and watching it explode. She raised his arms in the air and cheered. "Trolls: 1! Squids: 0!"

I chuckled. I had hated The Squids more than anything in my life, and I was especially happy that we were doing this to them. I looked at Polska. "You have a strange sense of humor."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

I nodded. "Good."

I turned back and I laughed, listening to Del's own ridiculous laugh. The nightmare that The Squids had created was almost over for everyone.

But, of course, I spoke too soon.

* * *

Luna POV—

The sound of the freed prisoners was like music to my ears, listening to them praise us and grab their favored weapons so they could strike back as soon as he could.

Bodil held up a flint-and-steel, wiggling his eyebrows. "We ready?"

I nodded. "Do it, man."

Bodil raised the two items, just about to create a spark that would end this hideout like the others, when I heard a dull clunk! The Sky Army general froze, not moving an inch before crumpling into a heap on the ground. Above him stood a Squidlantian.

This Squidlantian wasn't normal. He was tall, almost reaching four blocks high. His rubbery skin was snow-white, glimmering and glistening in the glowstone light. He was wearing dark robes that had beautiful embroidery in silver threads, depicting scenes of The Squids ruling over all of Minecraft, and the Aether, and the Nether. His head proudly displayed a crown made of the most delicate diamond and silver.

I stood there, sweating in my banana suit. I had a tiny idea of who this Squid was. "Derpollous?"

The king-like Squidlantian laughed. "Foolish human. No. I am King Triton! King of the Squidlantians and Derpollous' strongest general. You have chose the wrong Squid Army base to attempt to destroy!"

Marz and Sierra stood in horror next to me, sweat dripping from their faces and fear clearly reflecting in their eyes. "Oh shit."

Triton grabbed me in his beefy hands, lifting me to his face. He look angry, a deep growl growing rapidly in his throat. The scent of old fish and other disgusting things wafted to my nostrils, making me tear up and choke.

"Someone needs mouthwash!" I choked, coughing as I tried not to breathe in the smell of old seafood.

The Squidlantian king glared into me angrily. "You will pay!" He tossed me into the air and caught me by my ankles, slamming me into the wall hard. I heard a crack as my leg exploded into horrible pain.

"Oh my Notch! Luna!" Marz and Sierra screamed, pulling out their weapons and charging at Triton.

I instinctively used the fact that I was half-Enderman to teleport away from the Squid king and onto the ground, wailing in pain. My leg... it was bent in a terrible angle.

"OW!" Marz sailed past me and out the prison doors, slamming into the cobblestone walls with a loud _CRASH!_ Sierra soon followed, landing in the pile of TNT and moaning in pain.

Bodil woke up, rubbing his head and moaning loudly. Triton whirled around and smiled evilly, running over to seize him. "Come here, Sky Army general! I have something special planned out for you!"

I gasped and teleported over to him, quickly extending my middle finger to King Triton before teleporting outside of the Squid Army hideout. Everyone instantly ran over to help with my broken leg and tending to Bodil's head, which only turned out to be a large bump. Nothing serious.

"What happened?" Noah asked, desperation clearly in his voice.

"King Triton. Squid Army general. You guys need to tell Sky and everyone else," I answered. "He just broke my leg and—"

"_Marz is in there!_" Noah grabbed my shoulders and shook me violently, his eyes turning from their normal icy blue to the void-white. "_Why didn't you save her instead!?"_

I yelped and teleported a block away. "She was too far away! I couldn't do anything!"

"_DAMMIT, LUNA!_" Noah pulled out his sword and roared. "I'm going after her!"

"Noah! Don't do it! We need to get Sky first!" iAngel grabbed his shoulder.

The son of Herobrine lashed out, cutting iAngel's wrist to make her let go. His eyes glowed brightly with anger. "_Get away from me!"_ he hissed.

iAngel used her other hand and grabbed his wrist, twisting it... _hard._ Noah screamed and dropped his sword, clutching his wrist.

"Do _not_ go in there, Noah. You know what will happen if you do," Polska said.

Noah growled and tried to run away to save his sister, but everyone else held him back, pinning him to the ground. Noah struggled, kicking and screaming like a little kid. "Marz! No! Let me go! Please! Marz! MARZ!"

I crawled over to him, mindful of my broken leg. "Noah."

The son of Herobrine looked at me, his white eyes flickering.

"We'll get her back. Don't worry," I said soothingly.

Noah whimpered, and broke into tears. "No! Marz! Please, Notch! I don't want it to be like this! Not my sister! Anything but my sister!"

Bodil stood up, his legs wobbling as he pulled out his bow. "Let's get those fuckers."

I grit my teeth. "For the last time: We need to tell Sky fir—"

I didn't finish. At that moment, dozens of arrows sailed from the main entrance, yellow smoke billowing in clouds from the arrowheads. We all began to cough and tear up, the gas burning our lungs and blinding us.

Tear gas. The Squids were smarter than I thought.

"Run!" I heard Polska screamed, followed by another fit of uncontrollable coughing.

I tried to stand, only to fall to the ground while crying out. My leg was still broken, and I didn't think I had the energy to teleport away. I just sat in the toxic yellow smoke, letting chemical tears and coughing start to wrack my body. I heard two pairs of feet running away, but everything else was my friends hacking and bawling.

By the time the smoke finally cleared, there were dozens of Squidlantian guards surrounding us, holding swords and bows that would skewer us if we chose to fight. iAngel and Del were gone, leaving Bodil, Polska, Kate, Noah, and I.

King Triton stood in front of me, an evil grin on his face as he knelt down next to me. "It seems that we have some guests over, today."

* * *

Sky POV—

I found Athena in the cafeteria, taking refuge from the rain while talking to Ruby, Sapphire, and Susan. Beside them were Felix and Viola, the Spider-jockey. All of them were laughing, telling jokes and asking questions.

I walked over to them. "Hey guys."

"S'up, Sky?" Susan asked.

I smiled. "Nothing much." I turned to Athena. "Can I see you for a minute?"

Athena's neutral smile melted, replaced with a nervous frown. "Um... sure. Yeah."

She followed me outside of the cafeteria, where we were both alone for the minute. I turned to her. "You have some more information that Sky Army might need."

Athena looked at me, her grey eyes wide. "No!"

"No?"

"No! I don't have anything else you need!" Athena shook her head. "No, no, no, no!"

I grabbed her wrist. "Tell me what you know."

"I can't!"

"Why not?" I asked.

Athena whimpered. "Because I knew this might happen," she said softly.

I cocked my head. "You did?"

"Yes. Figured something would eventually lead me to showing you my sister."

I stared at her. "Your sister? Didn't you say she was killed?"

She nodded slowly, looking down at her combat boots. "She was..."

"Athena, what are you talking about?" I looked at her, trying to extract whatever she was trying to say.

She looked at me, brushing back her black hair. "You sure you wanna know?"

"Show me," I demanded.

Athena sighed, and pulled out an Eye of Ender. She stood up straight and looked at me with sad eyes. "Grab my shoulder, and close your eyes."

I followed her directions, the sounds of millions of recruits fading away. I felt the floor beneath me change, almost turning to a soft stone. The sound of Endermen cooing and walking around reached me. I opened my eyes.

"Holy squid shit!"

We were in the End. The dark "sky" overhead had a black overcast all around us. Dark obsidian towers held purple crystals, which glowed and made ominous sounds. White Endstone sat underneath my feet, glowing softly as it lit up the ground around us.

"Cool, huh?" Athena asked. An Enderman walked up to her, holding an Endstone block, as if offering it to her.

"You're sister is an Enderman? I thought you said she was a Blaze," I said, careful not to look the Ender man in the eyes.

Athena shooed it away. "No. She's not an Enderman or a Blaze."

"Then what is she?"

The wither-hybrid looked behind me and laughed. "Turn around and you might see."

I quickly turned to see what she was talking about. Standing with it's snout in my face, sat the Ender large purple eyes stared into me, as if trying to find out if I was friendly or a threat. The dark scales glimmered like polished obsidian: Beautiful and terrible at the exact same time. The huge snout was directly in my face, taking deep sniffs then letting out hot bursts of breath.

I stared at the Ender Dragon, eyes wide with horror. Instinctively, I slowly curled my fingers around my budder sword.

"No, Sky," Athena slapped my hand away. She pointed to the Dragon. "Eris—Sky. Sky—Eris."

I looked at her. "That's your sister!?"

"Don't believe me?"

"Nether no! That cannot be your sister, Athena!" I said, flustered and confused.

Athena grinned and held up the Eye of Ender. "I'll prove it to ya!" She tossed the Eye into the air, watching it drift above the dragon's head. A soft glow beamed a single ray of light in front of me, instantly turning into a mist. The mist formed a small girl, who looked exactly like Athena, only more petite and child-like.

Athena smiled sweetly. "Eris! I haven't visited in a while."

The mist-girl chuckled lightly. "I would understand, Athena. After all, the war is almost over."

I was surprised. Eris was speaking as if the more mature one. How old was she? Eight? Nine?

Eris looked at me, a pleasant smile on her face. "Sky. The Sky Army leader himself. I have always wanted to meet you." She extended her hand.

I was about to shake it, but hesitated. "Um… won't you disappear… or something if I touch you?"

The two sisters laughed. "No. I'm in a very stable form. I will dissipate, but only if you are a threat. I will not disappear when you touch me."

I nodded, still hesitant to touch her. I carefully shook her hand, but I had no need to. She was indeed solid, her body heat as cool as an early morning fog. It was… interesting.

Eris turned back to Athena. "How are you doing, sister? Well?"

Athena cringed, as if hurt by those words. "F… Fine, I guess. I just don't have a good feeling."

"About what?" Eris and I asked at the same time.

"The war." Athena looked up at us. "Think about it. Aren't we destroying those Squid hideouts a little too easy?"

I cocked my head. "What do you mean?"

The Ender Dragon walked over to her and nuzzled her, making a growl that sounded like a deep purr in the back of its throat.

The Wither-hybrid swallowed. "The first base we destroyed: easy. None of the Squids tried to kill Susan or I; they just threatened us. The second base we destroyed: easy. All Ruby and Sapphire did was basically nuke them—"

That's an understatement, Aether whispered in my mind.

"—and finally, the third base we took down: Ridiculously easy. Ck and the others did it under 45 minutes. Don't you that The Squids might be planning something?"

Then it occurred to me: She was right. All of those bases we blew up, all of those Squids we killed…

It was too easy.

Then another thing occurred to me: The Squids had threatened to destroy Sky Army HQ unless we handed over our child.

They wanted our baby as a repayment for all that we did to them. And if we didn't hand over the baby…

Eris must have realized it to. She snapped her attention to Athena. "You two need to leave."

I looked at her. "But, we came to bring you to the Overworld. You need to come with us—"

"No!" Eris snapped. The Ender Dragon snarled at me, flashing its razor sharp teeth. "You need to go, now! Evacuate the Sky Army HQ and everywhere else! Something's gonna happen, and it's gonna happen soon!"

"But, Eris. We need—" Athena started.

"GO!" The mist image of Eris disappeared as the Eye of Ender drifted back into Athena's open palm. The Ender Dragon then reared its black head and roared, the horrible sound echoing throughout the dark world. It didn't stop, and I knew it wouldn't stop until we left.

I looked at Athena. "She's right. We need to go."

"But…"

"NO! No 'but's!' We need to go now, or millions of innocent people are going to die!" I grabbed her wrist and held it tight. "Get us out of here!"  
"No!" She grit her teeth and closed her eyes as she tried to let go. I took this opportunity and closed my own eyes, listening to the roars of the Ender Dragon fade away into nothing.

* * *

**Well, there's Chapter 8**—

_"Finally!"_

_"About time!"_

_"Thank you!"_

**You people have been hounding me about this chapter! I'm telling you! I'm doing my best, but even my best is not going to get the chapters posted on time, every time. So, as much as I hate to change this _again,_ but I'm now going to post chapters as soon as they are written and as soon as I can get them posted.**

**Also, one of you Awesomer Army Members PMed me, asking about how I got the idea for Nether and Aether...**

**That idea was modeled after my mind. I have two hidden conscious' in my head, and I've known about it since I was about... four? Five?  
**

**This resulted about two months of therapy because I was caught speaking to myself. 'Nuff said.**

**But still, this two conscious' exist in my head, and they've been what kept me going most of my life.**

**Anyways, make sure to favorite and follow. A final salute, and I will see you soon!**

**So, tell me, Awesomer Army Members: From all of Sky's friends, who's your favorite?**

**-The Awesomer**


	9. Chapter 9: Friends? Or Enemies?

Sky POV—

Athena and I appeared in front of Markiplier when we teleported back from the End. Markiplier was trying to convince some new female recruits that he was actually Herobrine before he noticed us. His expression turned from a joking-serious manner, to an instant concern. "Where the _fuck_ have you people been?!"

"Don't ask," I quickly replied. "Find Toby and tell him to evacuate The Audience HQ and send them to Alpha Base #1 and _tell them to be careful._"

"You sent Toby to fight those extra people we told you about earlier, remember?"

I sighed. "Then get PBG."

"Same issue."

"Seto?"

"Nope."

"Ssundee?"

"Same."

I growled. "Alright. Try and find Marz and Noah, tell them to bring everyone over there back."

Markiplier ran off to follow orders.

I pointed to the female recruits he was talking to. "I need you to find MUDKIPZ, Deadlox, Ethan, and Vic for me. Tell them to evacuate to Alpha Base #1. They'll know what I'm talking about."

The female recruits rushed off, and I pointed at Athena. "Find Felix and Viola, get them as far away as you can. Tell _every_ recruit to evacuate the area within a 500 block radius. Got it?"

The wither-hybrid only nodded and ran off, stuffing the Eye of Ender in her pocket. I sighed, beginning to run down a hall towards the recruit quarters.

This was going to be, by far, the toughest battle that Sky Army and its alliances would have.

* * *

Toby POV—

You know what I hate? Surprises.

But not _just any_ old surprises.

Plot twists.

Yes.

Plot twists.

Now, apparently Blabid, Lignite, Luna, Polska, and the two children of Herobrine had found two humans in the forest, and naturally (Because Lignite looked like a creeper) they tried to kill them. Blabid started to defend his friend, leading to a huge fight that pretty much got out of hand enough to send Noah and Marz back to Sky Army HQ to fetch a few more people. Luna, Polska, Marz, and Noah soon tired out, so they switched out with Seto, Ssundee, PBG, and I to start fighting with Blabid and Lignite. There were two people that we had to fight, both of them wearing leather armor and wielding diamond swords. Both of them were handling themselves pretty well, not giving in or tiring easily. Neither of us knew who these people were, and we couldn't tell because their leather caps were pulled too low over their heads for us to see.

We've been fighting them _for almost four hours._

Now, here's part of the surprise: When we finally subdued them and took away their weapons...

Er... maybe you should see for yourself.

After almost three-and-a-half hours of trying to stop these two people from trying to kill us, Blabid had found a weak spot in their defense: though they fought back-to-back, they would keep separating to try and strike at a certain person. Blabid used this chance, telling Lignite to pretend he was going to explode while Seto and Ssundee snuck up from behind and took them out.

By this, I mean knock them out cold.

Seto did his quickly and quietly, not even bothering the second one.

_Ssundee,_ however.

Ssundee raised his sword, ready to hit the butt of his blade against this guy's head, grinning in his insane way before saying: Surprise, motha fucka!"

The guy turned—about to skewer Ssundee—a little too late. The Sky Army general brought the butt of the blade down hard onto the top of his head, making the second fighter crumple into a heap onto the dirt ground.

Blabid patted Lignite on the head, panting hard as he did so. "Nice job, old friend."

"Not bad yourself," he complimented.

I looked at Seto and PBG. They were covered in cuts, blood, mud, and potions.

I smiled. "Well, that was easy." I sheathed my diamond sword as I tried to regain my breath.

PBG nudged one of the unconscious fighters with his foot. "What now?"

"Normal protocol: Tie them up, take their weapons, try to identify them, then negotiate with them if we need to," Seto replied, already taking the fighters' diamond swords. "Toby. You got anything we can tie them with?"

I nodded, pulling out some spare cloth. I shrugged. "Better than nothing."

"Agreed," Lignite said.

In about two minutes, we had the duo tied and back-to-back again. Seto hid the swords behind a few trees. PBG made sure there was no one else. Lignite... he kind of danced around a little bit in victory. Blabid was the one who removed the leather caps.

And you would not believe who the two fighters were.

Ssundee stared wide eyed at the fighters. "Holy squid shit."

Seto nodded slowly. "MlgHwnt and Aviator?"

They were right. Aviator and mglHwnT (Or Steve) were sitting unconscious in front of us. They looked like crap, but then again, we had just fought them for four hours.

Steve opened his eyes, moaning as he tried to move his hands. He was greeted by the cloth handcuffs that I had made. Steve panicked. "Wha... what? What!?" He looked up at Lignite. "CREEPER!"

Aviator snapped awake and screamed with Steve. "CREEPER! HOLY FUCKING SQUID SHIT!"

Seto and Ssundee stepped in front of the duo. "Hello, old friends."

Aviator scowled. "What da fuck is going on!?"

"Who the fuck are those assholes that tried to fucking kill us!?" Steve added quite rudely.

I sighed, stepping forward. "Well, I believe you know Seto, Ssundee, and I. That's PBG, Blabid, and Lignite."

"_You have a fucking pet creeper!?"_ Aviator screamed.

PBG cringed. "Are they always like this."

"No," Ssundee answered. "They're like this when they are incredibly terrified."

"Fuck you, Ssundee!" Steve tried to stand, only to flop over. "Notch dammit!"

Lignite looked at me. "Um... can we...?"

"No," Blabid interupted. "Whatever you are thinking, we're not going to do it, Lignite."

Aviator and Steve soon calmed down, accepting that there was a talking creeper in front of them, and that they were tied up and being held temporary prisoners. Aviator took a deep breath and looked at me. "Okay. Is the Sky Army okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah. It's fine."

"And everything else? The Audience?" Steve added.

I nodded again. "Yeah. All of that is okay."

Aviator and Steve sighed. "Good. Now, you guys must listen to our directions _very carefully._ Got it?"

We all nodded.

Aviator started: "After the second attack on the Sky Army, we soon left in order to see if we could find other humans on our own. We found very few, but I don't think they ever made it to the Sky Army HQ. Did they?"

"Nope," Steve answered.

"When we finally decided to start heading back, The Squids captured us. They took us to their main base, brain washed us, told us that Sky Army was the enemy, then sent us out to kill any and every Sky Army recruit undercover."

Steve took over: "When we learned that they had brain washed us, we stole some information. Blueprints, battle plans, weapon ideas. But, we couldn't exactly come running to you screaming: '_Hey! We know a few things that could help you defeat The Squids!_' So, we _conveniently _tipped the first two recruits that destroyed one of the first bases."

It quickly snapped into my mind. "You guys made that journal? You did that?"

Aviator laughed. "Yeah we did, bitches. The best plan that we've made."

Steve continued: "They found out, and guess what next?"

Seto slowly pulled out his sword. "What next?"

Aviator smiled like a mad man. "They made a deal with an old friend." Aviator blinked, and his eyes turned pure white.

Steve grinned wildly, his form disappearing until there was just cloth handcuffs on the ground. Aviator rose slowly, freeing his hands as his body and face morphed. His clothes changed to a turquoise blue shirt and purple jeans, his eyes still remaining the normal white color.

I pulled out my diamond sword. "Freaking Mini Minotaur..." I murmured.

No one moved as he began to grow in size, reaching hundreds of blocks tall. He looked down on us, flicking his hand to summon an enchanted diamond sword.

"HEROBRINE!" Blabid grabbed Lignite and teleported away.

No one else moved. Not Seto. Not Ssundee. Not PBG.

But it was me to react first.

"RUN!" I quickly turned on my heels and began running, not caring where I was going or what would happen to the others. All I focused on was getting away from the most dangerous person in all of Minecraft.

I heard the terrified and inhuman shrieks of my friends before a bellowing laugh. I ran faster, dropping my diamond sword on the ground and pumping my arms for more speed. I breathed in and out as fast as I could. The soft grass turned to gravel, and I listened to the steady pound of my feet crunching on the rocks.

"You cannot run from me!"

I tripped over something, skidding across the gravel underneath me. I cried out, putting a hand to my face and feeling the warm blood ooze from the scrapes. I looked over to my foot, seeing that there was a hand made entirely of gravel wrapped around my ankle. I tried to kick away, but the grip was tight, the rocks cutting into my flesh and drawing blood.

"Let go!" I yelled, struggling against the gravel hand. "_Let go!_"

"You cannot run from me!" I saw Herobrine teleport in front of me, a large smile on his face. "You cannot run from your future king!"

Herobrine grabbed my throat, lifting me from the ground and cutting off my breathing. I clawed desperately at his hands, gasping and choking for any air that I could get. One of my hands reached for my diamond sword, but it wasn't there. It was somewhere on the forest ground back where I had dropped it. Why was I an idiot?

Herobrine pulled out a blood red potion, pulling off the cork and forcing the drink down my throat.

* * *

FINALLY! Finished, bitches!

I got this done quickly! YES! I'M SO AMAZING!

Anyways, make sure to favorite and follow, and I will see you soon.

So, tell me Awesomer Army Members: What was your favorite Squid moment in Sky's videos?

-The Awesomer


	10. Chapter 10: D—Dawn?

Sky POV—

Markiplier ran back to me, panting and wheezing. "I can't find Noah _or_ Marz."

I sighed. "Alright. Find Luna."

"She's gone too. All the children of Notch are gone!" Markiplier looked at me. "They disappeared."

"What?!" I grabbed his shoulders. "Do we know where they are?"

He shook his head. "No one does!"

I growled in frustration. "Alright then. Get Minion and head over to The Audience HQ. Tell them to head over to Alpha Base #1 _immediately. _Got it?"

He ran off, shouting for Minion.

I had managed to evacuate half of the Sky Army recruits from the main building, telling them to head over to Alpha Base #1. Everyone remembered where Alpha Base #1 was all too well. It was our first base, the one in the rain forest. I didn't want to go back there because if we had to stay there until the war was over, we would exhaust _all_ of the resources. But, what choice did we have?

I knocked on Vic's door. "Yo! Vic! We gotta leave! Go to the Alternate Army HQ and evacuate them over!"

Silence.

"Vic?" I opened the door, seeing Vic talking to Red Flare, Ck, and Chance. All four of them were in full battle gear, holding weapons and circling different locations on a map. Red Flare noticed me first, narrowing his eyes as he put a hand on his katana sword...

Ck grabbed his wrist and shook his head. "Chill. He's fine."

Red Flare relaxed a little bit.

I looked at the small group. "Guys. We gotta evacuate. What are you doing?"

Chance motioned at the map. "We've been spotting a strange monster at night recently. We don't know what it is exactly."

I nodded. "Okay. We'll worry about that _later._ We need to leave. _Now._"

"Now?" Vic asked.

"_Now,"_ I urged.

The group packed up, quickly grabbing what they needed and rushing out of the room. I stopped Ck. "Where's Team Press Start HQ?"

"Here," he replied.

I nodded. "Okay. Evacuate to Alpha Base #1. _Don't stop for anything._"

He nodded and walked off, adjusting his chestplate on his torso.

I looked at the last room in the hall.

Dawn's and my quarters.

* * *

I walked in. "Dawn? You in here?" I looked in the room, only to notice that it was empty. And trashed.

The chests that always held the healing potions were opened and tossed on the bed. The desks that Dawn often studied or sat at was chopped to only splinters of wood. The chests with the potions of poison and harm were emptied, some of the bottles broken on the ground.

What the Nether happened?

"Dawn? Are you okay?" I asked, careful not to step on the broken bottles. "Dawn?"

I heard a whimper from the closet, and I opened the wooden door. Dawn was curled up and in the corner, whimpering and drinking a healing potion.

But there were no obvious wounds.

"What happened in here?" I knelt next to her.

She looked at me, her eyes shifting colors like usual. "They... they tried to kill me."

I felt a sudden hatred grip my heart. I put a hand on my sword. "Where are they?"

"Gone. I killed them," Dawn replied, taking another sip of the healing potion.

I didn't relax either way. "Where are the bodies?" I asked, my suspicion already growing.

She turned to me. "I... um... er..."

I tightened my fingers on my sword hilt. "I'll ask you again, Dawn: Where are the bodies?"

Dawn took a final sip of the healing potion, then stood up. "I don't know where they are."

My eyes turned wide. "What do you mean?"

"They disappeared after I killed them."

I then heard a faint rustle behind me, and I froze. "Dawn. If they disappear after you kill them, they aren't dead."

"Oh fuck."

I slowly turned. Right in front of me, was a Squidlantian, holding a potion of harm. He had bloody scratches across his face, which luckily damaged both of his eyes.

I turned again noiselessly and looked at Dawn. "Did... did you take any pain killers before you fought this guy?"

"Um... oh shit."

I sighed and turned back around. At least this guy was blind. I slowly drew my sword, the budder blade coming from the sheath with a very quiet _scraaaap..._

The Squidlantian turned, facing my direction. I froze in place, holding my breath to conserve what few precious seconds I could have killing this guy.

_Please don't find us. Please don't find us._

Shut the Nether up, Aether. You're not helping.

_Neither are you, asshole._

I watched the Squid turn away to keep listening for us, and I let out a deep breath. Raising my budder sword, I took a quiet step forward. And another. And another. And another—

The Squid vaporized into dust, and I stopped. "What the Nether?"

"Surprise!" Something wrapped around my neck from behind and threw me to the ground. I yelped in both pain and surprise to see Dawn standing above me, her eyes turning from their usual multicolors to a dark, sinister navy blue. Tentacles came from her backside, wreathing and holding potions of harm to throw. Dawn's large smile reached impossibly from ear to ear, her head starting to twist around like a ghost in a horror story.

"D—Dawn?!" I stuttered along the words to form on my tongue. "What—? What is—?"

"I'm not Dawn. I believe she is on her way to Squid Army HQ by now!" the imposter growled, sounding like she was speaking with multiple voices. "We have known of your plan since the start. And now that we have the leader of The Audience with us, nothing can go wrong!"

My eyes turned wide under my sunglasses. "Toby? Where is he?"

The Squid laughed. "Oh? Is it that the leader of the Sky Army is _scared?_ This is music to my ears! The leader of the Sky Army is _scared!_"

I grit my teeth. "I'm not scared," I hissed.

Wow. First lie in the last 30 minutes. I'm proud of you, Sky.

_Shut up, Nether. This is life or death for all of us!_

I glanced at my sword beneath the cover of my glasses. The Squid was monologuing instead of trying to make sure I couldn't kill her? Typical. My hand slowly crept to the hilt of the sword, ready to seize it and kill this bastard.

But no. The Squidlantian noticed and stomped his foot on my hand. I cried out in pain, drawing back my arm and cradling it close to my chest. The Squid made a _tsk, tsk_ sound. "It's very rude to interupt someone while they are talking, Sky. You should know better."

"Screw you," I spat, the pain subsiding. "What do you want?"

The Squid made another _tsk, tsk_ noise. "I just want to watch our leader spill your blood at his feet. That would be my only dream in this world."

I laughed. "Sorry, but that's never gonna happen."

"We shall see about that, my friend."

I heard a quiet creak of my door open, and I watched Red Flare creep in. He held his katana in hand, his mask covering everything but his red eyes.

The Squid started to turn to see what made the noise, but I pretended to shoot out my hand to grab my sword. The Squidlantian noticed this, and stomped on my hand again. "Naughty, naughty, naughty."

I clenched my jaw tightly. "Unfortunately, I'm not the one who is being naughty."

The Squid smiled, her lips still reaching up to her ears. "Really?" She bent down low and took a potion of harm from one of her tentacles. "Then who is?"

I took a quick glance at Red Flare, who was slowly creeping towards the Squid with his katana raised above his head. I was already forming in my head. All I had to do was keep this Squid monologuing. I looked up at her. "Maybe you."

She chuckled, uncorking the potion and forcing open my mouth. "You should have chosen your words a tiny bit better."

She slowly began to tip the potion into my mouth and the pain starting. My throat burned like I was swallowing liquid fire, my tongue turning to sand. I screaming in absolute pain. Why? Why did we keep these kinds of potions in my quarters?

I watched the blade of a katana appear on the Squid's throat. Her smile faded as she stop pouring the potion in my mouth.

"Rule #1 of Sky Army: Don't mess with any of the Sky Army generals," Red Flare said calmly.

The Squid held still, not moving an inch as she slowly placed down the potion. "I see you have a few extra friends with you."

"No shit, Sherlock," I croaked, coughing and wheezing from the effects of the potion.

The Squid looked at me with wide eyes. "Um... Please don't kill me! I—I have information! Information I can give you! I can tell you all of the Squid Army weaknesses! Where to find Derpollous! Some new weapons we're trying to create! Just please don't hurt me!"

Kill her! She'll only be a back stabber when no one is looking! Nether screaming in my mind.

_Spare her. You can extract needed information from her! Remember Susan? She helped us out when we spared her!_ Aether tried to counter.

Kill!

_Spare!_

Kill!

_Spare!_

I shook my head and looked at Red Flare. "Your decision, my friend."

Red Flare sighed and slit the Squid's throat, dark blood coating his sword as the body fell limp onto mine.

"Get it off!" I panicked. "Get if off!"

Red Flare kicked off the body and helped me from the ground. "Don't be a wuss."

I looked out the window of my quarters, a realization crossing me.

"They have Dawn."

* * *

**Aaaaaand! Finally! I know it's a little short, but I'm working as hard as I can here! Please don't be angry!  
**

**Anyways, favorite and follow if you enjoyed!**

**So tell me, Awesomer Army: What Mini-Game should Sky play with is friends next?**

**A final salute, and I will see you soon!**

**-The Awesomer**


	11. What Is Up, Everybody!

**A salute to the Awesomer Army!**

**Now, I know you guys are waiting patiently for the next update to come, however this one is gonna take a little longer. Now, hear me out for this.**

**Of course, for you people that are in Middle School and High School, you would understand why these chapters are taking longer than usual. But, this next reason could make you more exciting.**

***Ahem* Drum-roll, please!**

**The next few chapters are going to be ****_OVER 8,000 WORDS!_******

**Screw 2,000 words!**

**Since we're almost to chapter 12 in Part 5, that mean this part of the series may have to come to an end, and I don't really feel like ending this part on a cliffhanger or making ****_another _****part to the series. So, the next chapters will be delayed for a little bit. Though, I promise, they will be promising and worth the wait.**

**Also, as soon as I finish the series, I'm gonna answer questions, do shout-outs, and even fix some chapters (Like the rushed chapter where Markiplier explodes a Squid base. Yay!).**

**But, I promise that I will make these upcoming chapters worth the wait! *Whispering* It's a promise! ;)**

**Also, as much as I hate to say this... *Sniffsniff* I will no longer be accepting OCs.**

_**I'M SO SORRY! PUT DOWN THE PITCHFORKS!**_

**All of these OCs are making my head implode! I'm happy that you guys want to be included in my story, and I always want to make my fans as happy as they can be! But I can barely remember to give every character some page time (You people remember what happened with Ray...), so I will no longer be accepting OCs.**

**I'm so sorry...**

**But anyways, be sure to submit questions, requested shout-outs, and be sure to favorite and follow if you enjoyed!**

**A final salute, and I will see you soon!**

**-The Awesomer**


	12. Chapter 12: Gryphon—New Vehicle for Toby

Sky POV—

I hate my life. Honestly do.

How could I let _a Squid_ get into Sky Army HQ undetected and let them _kidnap _Dawn?

Because I was stupid, careless, and deserved to be punished.

When we made finally got all of the Sky Army recruits to evacuate, we moved on to The Alternate Army, then The Dwellers, Team Press Start.

The main problem was The Audience. Since The Squids claimed to have done something with Toby, we had no choice but to try and cooperate with The Audience. The second in command was who needed to talk to, and that would be a little bit tough, considering who the second in command was.

I walked into the main gates, watching Audience Members stop whatever they were doing and watch us. I had most of the Sky Army generals with me—

Er... the Sky Army generals that remained...

—all of them walking behind me. We had already sent all the Sky Army recruits and every other alliance to Alpha Base #1, telling them exact orders to stay as silent as they could and not anything else until we said otherwise. Every other leader followed me—minus Vic, Red Flare, and Ck, who were investigating the disappearance of the children of Notch, Herobrine, Bodil, Toby, Seto, Ssundee, and PBG.

No one knew where they went. They just vanished.

We all walked into the main building, every single Audience Member turning their gaze towards us. I couldn't blame them, considering that we were all wearing full battle gear and holding our weapons. This was like a drill to us: If we ever walked into The Audience HQ like we were about to go into battle, that meant that every Audience Member was to automatically go into battle positions.

As I had expected, every Audience Member began to pull on armor and get into ready position.

We walked straight through the chaos, finally making it to where Toby's quarters were. I forced open the door, immediately startling a small white dog who ran underneath a large bed. Reading a book on Squid Anatomy on a nearby desk sat a muscular man, wearing a short-sleeved purple shirt with the name "_Gabuscus,"_ jeans, and an iron helmet over his normally spiked black hair. He looked up at us with slightly annoyed eyes and slammed the book shut.

"Dammit. What now? Did Toby say that there was a Mini-Minotaur invasion over here again?" Gabuscus asked.

I did a quick bow in respect and shook my head. "No. There's a real Squid invasion happening. All alliances of Sky Army are required to evacuate to Alpha Base #1 immediately."

Gabuscus blinked. "All alliances?"

MUDKIPZ stepped forward. "If you don't believe us, have fun getting kil—"

Sparklez and Kermit quickly slapped their hands over MUDKIPZ's mouth, silencing him. "Don't listen to him!"

I looked back at Gabuscus. "All alliances. Yes. We need you to evacuate all of The Audience and direct them to Alpha Base #1. Please, Gabuscus. This may be your only chance. Toby disappeared, Dawn was kidnapped, both the children of Notch and Herobrine went missing. You need to evacuate."

Gabuscus stood from the desk, rising to what felt like three blocks high. He sized me up, inspecting me as if I were just a lost puppy.

"What if you're responsible for his disappearance?"

The question hit me like a runaway minecart. "W—What?"

Gabuscus had a mean look cross him. "You could be responsible."

My mind was already reeling at the two sentences he spoke. What _if _I was responsible for his kidnapping/death?

Minecraftuniverse pulled out his sword. "Gabuscus. You're being rational."

The secondary leader of The Audience turned to my friend. "Really? I'm just as responsible for my friend as you are. What if you just carelessly left him to die?"

Jerome, Deadlox, Ethan, and Bajan all pulled out their bows and notched their arrows. "Don't fuck with Sky," they warned.

I waved them off. "This is between me and Gabuscus, guys. Put down your weapons."

Gabuscus looked at me. "You did leave him, didn't you?"

I shook my head. "No. But I did send him on a mission."

Gabuscus raised a balled fist, ready to send me flying across the room, when I heard a tiny: "Gryphon! You wanna treat?"

Gabuscus stopped as the small white dog from earlier yipped in happiness from under the bed. "What the Nether?" Everyone turned towards where the little white dog was.

"Kill!" the same small voice ordered, almost demonically.

The white dog growled and leaped from the bed, baring his sharp teeth as he attacked Gabuscus. He screamed and fell to the ground, a tiny white ball of fur and teeth trying to rip him to shreds.

"AAAGH! GRYPHON! GRYPHON! DOWN! DOWN BOY! NO!" Gabuscus punched randomly.

"Don't mess with Sky, Gabuscus!"

I looked back at the bed. On top of the red bedsheets, sat a tiny man about half a block high. He had wild brown hair, a green T-shirt, cargo shorts, and maroon shoes that hung from the edge of the bed. He was laughing hysterically, his voice high-pitch like he had breathed in a bunch of helium.

Everyone's eyes turned wide. "Toby?!"

"Gryphon! Heel!" the tiny Toby ordered.

The small white dog yipped and ran back under the bed. Gabuscus lay on the ground, breathing hard and bloody. "What the Nether, Toby!"

Tiny Toby leaped to the ground and landed with a tiny _thud!_ He sheathed a miniature diamond sword and scurried over to us. "Don't mess with Sky or anyone else, Gabuscus!"

I walked over to the bed and knelt to where Toby was standing. I tilted my head to one side. Then the other.

"Okay..." I mumbled.

Toby sighed and stuffed his hands in his short pockets. "I hate my life. The only thing cool about this is that I can ride Gryphon."

_Don't laugh! This could be dangerous for Toby! This could kill him!_ Aether screamed in my mind.

No! Laugh! This is fucking hilarious! Nether argued.

I stared at him for another few seconds, then burst into laughter. "WHAT THE FUCK!? HAHAHAHAHA!"

_Dammit, Sky._

There you go! Who's my best friend?

* * *

Dawn POV—

I was thrown violently into the dirty cell, my head aching from the abuse The Squids had just put it through. I quickly sat up and put a hand over my stomach. _Please be okay..._

I sighed in relief when I felt a kick of protest from the inside of my stomach. I leaned back on the ground. The baby was okay.

I looked at my captures. "Go fuck yourselves!" I spat.

One of the captures laughed. "Same to you, sweet heart."

"Call me sweet heart, and I will see to it that I personally torture you in the Nether," I hissed through clenched teeth.

The second Squid laughed. "You got spunk. If only we had people like that fighting in the front lines..." They both shut and locked the gate, sentencing me to darkness.

I sighed and stood up as soon as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. I took a quick recon of the room: The cobblestone walls had a very light and soft glow, informing me that the walls were enchanted.

Shit. I could've tunneled my wall out.

I checked if there were any items in the room. I found a small wooden bed on the wall, supported by iron chains. There was a standard toilet. And that was it.

_Geez. Could they at least put a glowstone light here?_ I thought to myself. _Or are they too stupid to do that?_ I snickered at the thought of a Squid trying to install a glowstone lamp in a prison cell. Sure, it wasn't the funniest thing, but it at least cheered me up considering the situation I was in.

I walked over to the bed, touching the sheets. They were dark, and damp. I quickly recoiled. I knew what they were doing. They soaked the sheets in Squid blood so when I slept, my skin would absorb the blood and I become one of them. It was like when they tipped those arrows with Squid blood and shot Antvenom about... what? Five years ago?

I instantly knew what to do. This was normal drills that Sky put me through.

I ripped off my sleeves of my shirt, wrapping the cloth shreds around my hands and palms to protect them. I then carefully grabbed the sheets and tossed them in the toilet along with the bits of cloth around my hands, flushing it and watching the water overflow from the bowl.

I brushed my hands and smiled at my handy work. _No turning into the enemy today!_

I looked at the bed longingly. I had just been tightly tied and thrown into a minecart, then thrown into the ocean, unable to breathe until I reached the underwater base. I was tired.

I walked over to the empty bed and lay down, curling into a ball and putting my arms around my belly in hope maybe that I would salvage extra warmth. I closed my eyes and sighed. Why? Why did it have to be me?

Then I began to think: How did Sky even become enemies with The Squids in the first place?

I vaguely remembered Sky teaching some other humans about a new biome he and some other people discovered. The Squids had burnt down a few trees when they showed up to watch, but Sky ignored them. Then, The Squids just began to annoy him when he tried to show other humans some new things. Sky began killing them in anger and rage, they attacked back, and...

The war started.

I sighed. The simple act of annoyance set the entire story of bloodshed and tears into motion. So many people had died because they just annoyed Sky.

Wow.

I opened my eyes again. What if they just... offered to be friends with him?

Nah. They tried that, but still annoyed him.

I rubbed my stomach, feeling another kick from inside. I sighed and smiled. "Daddy's coming. He's gonna bring us out of this nightmare."

I felt my eyes become heavy, and I closed my eyes. I was tired. So very tired...

The dank prison cell disappeared from my world, and I felt myself drifting in a white void. It was warm, comforting me and making a smile grow from my lips. I saw a man in white clothing appear in front of me. He reminded me of Sky: Black sunglasses, a budder sword at his hip, tangled brown hair. The only difference was the pure white clothing.

I smiled happily. "Sky!"

The man shook his head gently, putting a hand on my cheek. It was warm to the touch, a soothing feeling of calm and rest washing all through my body. The man put a finger to his lips, making a quiet: _Shh... _He pointed behind me.

I turned around, noticing a screen-like thing in front of me. On the screen, a series of images flashed: Toby, PBG, Seto, Ssundee, Lignite, and Blabid fighting a blurry man, but all of them failing. I couldn't make out the features of the man, but I had a bad feeling that he was powerful and dangerous. Lignite and Blabid escaped, so he turned his attention to the others. He tossed Seto, PBG, and Ssundee into a portal that glowed a soft Navy blue, and quickly captured Toby. He forced a potion into his mouth, then left him on the ground unconscious.

The screen disappeared, and I turned around to the man. "Toby?"

The man nodded. _He is okay, however, the others are trapped with you,_ he spoke in my mind.

"Me?"

_Yes. They are imprisoned. To become bait to lure in Sky and everyone else._

The portal!

"I... I gotta get out of here! Send me back so I can escape!" I demanded.

_I cannot. I can send you back, but you will be unable to escape._

"Um... why?" I asked.

_Because you will be imprisoned like the others. Stronger bait to trick the fox. You can only warn him._

"How?" I demanded, grabbing his shoulders and shaking them. "How can I warn him?"

The man bowed. _I am a messenger for Sky himself. I am Aether, correct and mature conscious of_—

Aether, you fucking asshole! What are you doing here!?

Aether growled. _Please excuse me for a moment._ He dissolved in a white light, only to appear two seconds later. _Please pardon the interuption. My friend... is the other part of Sky's conscious._

I decided not to ask.

I nodded. "Please, just tell Sky to not come to the Squid Army base, and that he must find another way here," I told Aether.

Aether smiled and bowed. _I give you my word the message shall reach him._

I smiled. "Thank you."

* * *

iAngel POV—

I collapsed on the ground, blood and tears streaming down my cheeks. I had left behind my brothers and sisters, only to save myself. Did anyone else escape? What happened? Why did I decide to do that? What had I done?

I curled into a ball, vomiting to let my body rid the rest of that tear gas from my system. The Squids were more intelligent than we thought, which only meant that they were more dangerous.

I finished vomiting and crawled away from the bile I had made. I looked around. As far as I could see, I was in the center of a rain forest. Had I really run that far? I had just ran from a forest. Maybe I was just so desperate to get away...

I took a slow breath, steadying my breathing and pulling myself to my feet. Whether I was lost or somewhere near some familiar ground, I would have to start walking. I looked up at the sky. It was almost nightfall.

Shit. The monsters would start coming out any minute now.

_Father,_ I prayed quietly. _I would appreciate it if you could give me some guidance. To a shelter that I can stay in for the night. Anything will do, Father._

I began to walk in a random direction, the only catch to get away from the Squid Army base. I put a hand over my side, a shot of pain traveling up. Had I injured myself?

I pulled up a part of my hoodie to take a look, and I nearly screamed. There was a large red welt the size of _a chicken_ on my side. How the Nether did I get that?

I thought back a little bit. I remembered that I had kept running into trees and swatting invisible bugs at my sides. Was that it? I was just delirious, and maybe that was why I kept...

Oh, nevermind. I don't think you want to hear about what I remember doing. It would probably take too long.

"iAngel?"

I stopped in my tracks. What was that? I looked around, only to see nothing. I shrugged and kept walking.

"iAngel? Um... can you...?"

I looked around again, only to see nothing.

"Yo! Look up!"

I craned my head to see a dark figure around ten blocks high up in a tree. I squinted to make out a dark suit and a long yellow tie. It was a man, in a dirty business suit and dark sunglasses. He was hanging from his tie in a tree, holding on for dear life so he didn't fall or accidentally hang himself.

I crossed my arms, a smile creeping across my lips. So someone _did_ survive! I opened my mouth and tried to speak, only for no sound to come out.

I clasped a hand over my mouth. Did I lose my voice?

"Can you... maybe make a ladder or something to help me down?" Bodil asked.

Around fifteen minutes later (Don't ask why it took so long... please) I had Bodil out of the branches of the tree. He brushed off the leaves and twigs from the suit. He thanked me, and I took a glance at the sky.

_Oh shit,_ I thought to myself.

It was nightfall. The sun had already sunk underneath the horizon and the moon was rising, bathing the world in a liquid silver. The stars began to rise along with it, making tiny lights that dancing in the night sky. A cool breeze blew through the rain forest.

I grabbed Bodil's arm. _We gotta get outta here!_ I wanted to scream, but my throat didn't release a sound. I instead waved my arms around and pointed at him. _We have to leave now!_

Bodil tilted his head. "What is the matter, iAngel? Why can you not speak?"

I threw my arms in the air in frustration. I pointed at my throat, then shook my head. _Something that I breathed in!_

"_Hisssssss..._"

I turned stiff. Bodil's jaw dropped as he grabbed my arm. "Don't. Move. A. Muscle."

Every nerve in my body shrieked for me to run. To get away from where ever we were. But I trusted Bodil and held still. I could already hear creepers shuffling through the forest. I saw an arrow sail through the air just behind Bodil's head, embedding itself in a tree. Multiple red eyes glistened to my right, the hiss of a spider coming from the same direction. A liquid moan came from directly behind me.

Bodil slowly leaned forward. "They cannot see us, iAngel. But if they hear us, they will come to kill us."

I swallowed, tilting my head as if to say: _How?_

Thankfully, he understood. "I... um... er... I don't know. I guess it's just one of the many talents of a Troll."

I silently giggled.

Bodil pointed to his right. "I know of a place we can stay for the night. It is not too far from here. Just follow me, and don't. Make. A. Noise. Got it?"

I nodded, understanding every word as if it were a lifeline, which it was. As we began to walk away quietly, I watched the monsters surrounding us closely. I had survived four attacks from The Squids, been captured by Herobrine, and traveled all of Minecraft even though it was dangerous. I was _not_ going to die by a few monsters tonight.

I then saw purple eyes materialize behind my friend, and I stared in horror. It was an enderman, cloaked in darkness except for his eyes. The enderman croaked in a curious manner, tilting it's head as it stared back at me. I couldn't tear my eyes away from him, but I knew that I had to look away if I wanted to survive the night.

I slowly felt for my sword, but found myself grabbing at empty air. My sword was gone! I must have dropped it when I was running away! I felt the cold hand of fear grip my heart and ice it over. _Oh, Notch, why?_

The enderman then decided that it was pissed, and unhinged its jaws. A terrible screech from the depths of the Nether erupted from its mouth as its eyes turned a shade of scarlet red. This got all the other monsters' attention, each one turning towards us and looking into our very souls with hatred.

Bodil looked at me. "Okay. Change of plans: If you have a brilliant idea that may... oh, I don't know... _save our lives!_... then be my guest."

I put a hand to my chin, pretending to think, but I shrugged. I was out of ideas.

"Okay... in that case, I have one last thing to do."

I tilted my head to ask.

"Shit my pants, because we're fucked," he answered me.

_Of course,_ I thought to myself. I pinched the bridge of my nose. _I can't believe it. I'm going to die, by a FREAKING ENDERMAN!_

The enderman screeched again, and my friend clung to my arm. "It was an honor to fight with you!"

_Ditto._

I then saw a glimmer of yellow catch my eye, and I looked at his hip. There, glistening in the liquid moonlight, in _PLAIN FREAKING SIGHT,_ was an budder sword right next to Bodil's leg. My eyes turned wide as I frantically pointed down. _There! Your sword! Look! Save us!_

Bodil followed my gaze to see his sword. He looked back at me, an annoyed look on his face. "I didn't think about my sword."

I rolled my eyes. _No shit._

The enderman hissed and charged, a bunch of creepers and skeletons and spiders and zombies following its lead. He quickly unsheathed the budder sword and pointed it at the enderman. "Now listen here, you little shit!"

The enderman stopped, an angry glow still in its eyes.

"Leave us the Nether alone, or we will personally hunt you down and... um... take your blocks! Yeah! Take your favorite stolen blocks from you and burn them in front of your family!" Bodil threatened.

The enderman growled angrily to cross its point, then teleported away. However, all the other monsters kept charging. I felt several arrows lodge themselves in my shoulder, and I mutely cried out in pain. _My Notch, it BURNS! _Did they coat it with something. My vision became blurry and ringed in red. _Shit! Potion of weakness!_

A spider hissed from behind and jumped at me, fangs glistening with a deadly venom. I lifted my arm up and shoved it away, sending it into a skeleton that was about to fire an arrow at Bodil. My friend was currently putting a deadly pole of budder through a skeleton's skull, shattering the bone and making the monster go limp. A spider leaped at him from behind, a loud and triumphant hiss escaping its mouth, but Bodil heard that. He quickly ducked as the spider sailed into a nearby.

"iAngel! Climb a tree!" he shouted at me, whirling around and chopping the head off of a creeper flawlessly. "Go!"

I didn't think as I quickly sprinted for the nearest tree. The vines were thick in my hands as I put my feet against the trunk of the tree and pulled myself away from the battle. Several arrows followed me, most hitting my shoulders and back. I wanted to cry out, but I still couldn't make a sound. As soon as I got out of reach from most of the monsters, I camped out in a branch, looking down at the battle before me.

Bodil was almost losing, arrows sticking out from almost every possible spot on his body and blood running down his face. The monsters that were trying to kill me gave up and turned their attention towards Bodil, running over to try and kill him. To see him bleed on the ground in front of them. To watch blood of a human spill by their need for murder. My friend's sword was heavy in his hands, and it was obvious that soon he was going to basically drop his weapon and yell: "Eat me! I'm tasty!"

I put a hand over my mouth. _No... It can't end like this... I should be down there. Not Bodil._

I looked up towards the night sky, sudden tears springing from my eyes. _Father,_ I prayed desperately. _I have asked for so many things, but this may be the biggest favor I ask. I wish to see that Bodil will not die tonight. I will ta__ke his place if it means he survives the night. I beg you, Father._

I looked back down. Bodil was now breathing hard, his budder sword almost touching the ground in tiredness. The monsters were already closing in, ready for the final kill that would spill his blood on the ground for the world to see. Creepers exploded, sending Bodil flying forward into a volley of arrows. He landed on his side, clothes ripped and sunglasses broken into a million tiny black shards. He tried to stand up, but the spiders pounced on him, pushing him back to the ground as they hissed in pure hatred. Endermen teleported to watch, watching with purple eyes and different blocks in their arms, like gifts for the death of my friend. I was too tired to teleport down.

Why...?

_FATHER! _I shrieked in my mind. _I BEG YOU! LET ME TAKE HIS PLACE!_

I saw a flash of light down below. The monsters recoiled in sudden fear, hissing and screeching as the light blinded them. Bodil lay helplessly on the ground, bleeding profusely and dying. Nothing else happened. Flashes of multicolored lights filled the night, fending off the monsters from the dying Sky Army general.

I took this chance. I grabbed a vine and tied it around my waist, draping it over my branch to use for later. I then stood up and leaped from my perch in the tree, landing on a creeper with a _thud!_

_Serves you right, you little asshole!_ I spat in my mind.

I grabbed Bodil by the shoulders and yanked him from the ground. He was barely conscious, leaning heavily on my shoulder. I gave him a light slap on the cheek. _Hey! Hey! Stay with me! You're okay!_ I wrapped a vine around his waist and tightened it to make sure he didn't slip out. I began pulling on my vine, lifting the limp Bodil up the tree. He would make it to the branch I was on, and he would survive for the night.

"Hisssss..."

I quickly tied the vine to a rock and the ground and turned to face a creeper. It was _pissed,_ running towards me at full sprint. It flashed white twice before it exploded. I was sent flying into a tree, landing hard and silently crying out. The pain. The pain. The pain.

I saw multiple monsters start running towards me, and I pulled myself to my feet. Maybe my death wouldn't be as embarrassing as I had imagined. I gave a good fight, right? I saved one of my friends, right? I was dying for a good cause, right?

Yes.

"iAngel..." I heard the quiet moan from above. I vine dropped down from the tree Bodil was hanging from. "Grab on..."

The monsters were closing in, more anger and hatred then before reflecting in their eyes. I looked at the vine. That was my only chance...

_Risk it!_

I dashed for my last hope of life, monsters firing arrows and exploding behind me. Endermen teleported in front of me and placed blocks down, hoping to slow me enough to let the monsters deliver my death. But when I was determined, I was unstoppable. I leaped out, grabbing onto the vine and pulling myself up the tree.

_Bodil! _I screamed in my mind. _Grab my hand and pull me up!_ He couldn't hear me, but those echoing words in my head were the only things holding me to my sanity. _Help!_

I heard the hisses of spiders as they crawled up just as fast as I could climb. My body shrieked in pain and fatigue. But I was _not _going to be killed by a few spiders now! I was so close!

I watched a weak and bloody hand reach for mine. I threw myself up with my last bit of energy and hope, reaching for the hand and pushing my foot against the head of the closest spider for more leverage. Bodil's face appeared, screaming for me to grab his hand. "IANGEL!"

A spider bit my leg, and I flinched. My fingers just barely brushed Bodil's hand, and I began to fall. _No! NO! NONONONONONONONONONONONONONOOOOO!_

"IANGEL!" Bodil shrieked as I fell.

My voice found the ability to speak again. "NO! BODIL! HELP MEEEEE!"

I hit the ground, landing on a zombie on the way down. An Enderman screeched as it lifted me from the ground and forced me to stare into its eyes. I weakly obeyed, watching as the purple irises turned to a scarlet red. Creepers and zombies almost danced in victory. Skeletons and spiders cheered the enderman to kill me.

I smiled bravely, my brown eyes flashing defiantly. "I'll see you all in the Nether."

The enderman opened its mouth, ready to bite my head off and consume me, and I raised my gaze to the sky. "Thank you... Father..."

The enderman raised me to its gaping maw, but stopped. An unknown being came from behind it and shoved it away, dropping me to the ground. It was a basic silhouette in the silver moonlight, but it looked like something... different? Evil? I didn't know what the right word would have been. I could only describe its figure: A strange dog-like thing with horns coming from its hands.

The monsters did not take a liking to this thing. They charged at the thing, wanting blood. The thing gently lifted me and ran off.

* * *

Sky POV—

Tiny-Toby. That was the name we decided to give our... er... "new" friend.

Tiny-Toby.

Toby crossed his arms as I held him in my palm. "So, how about we get over the fact that I'm almost a Mini-Minotaur and get to the... gee, I dunno... _Where you tell me what you're here for!_"

Ethan nodded in agreement.

I sighed. "Okay. One second." I turned to everyone else. "Alright guys. Go ahead and spread around The Audience HQ. Tell everyone to evacuate to Alpha Base #1. Do whatever it takes." I pointed at Ruby, Sapphire, and Susan. "You guys go ahead and try to communicate with Vic and the others. Get the follow up."

All of my friends nodded and walked out the door to carry out the orders. I turned back to Tiny-Toby.

"Alpha Base #1? What's happening that's so bad that we have to evacuate the Sky Army and the alliances over there?" Toby asked.

I ignored him. "Alright. You want the clearer, detailed version or the quick not-so detailed version. Or, if you _really_ want to know what's happening, you can—"

"Just shut up and tell me what's happening or I'll send Gryphon after you!" Toby snapped.

"You've got a short temper," I joked.

"Gryphon!"

"Okay, okay! Don't be an asshole!" I told him. "Um... So the children of Notch and Herobrine went missing about a couple hours ago. While trying to find them, you and the others went missing for no apparent reason. We sent Vic, Ck, and Red Flare to find you guys. Meanwhile, I had just learned of a possible attack from The Squids that could endanger all of us."

Toby nodded. "Okay. Anything else that I should know?"

"There are Nuggets-in-Biscuits back at Sky Army HQ," I said, a grin growing on my face.

"Why are you doing this to me? I just got shrunk to half the size of my own dog. I'm not in the mood."

"Fair enough," I said finally.

"Speaking of my dog..." Toby made a sharp whistle. "Gryphon! Heel!"

The tiny white dog stopped tearing Gabuscus to shreds and sat down next to me. Gabuscus slid to the floor, shaking like he had seen a ghost. "Why...? Why...? Why did you teach him that trick, Toby...?"

Toby, walked to the edge of my hand and leaped off, landing on Gryphon's head. He held the dog's collar like reigns. "Okay. Let's go kill those Mini-Minotaurs!"

I suppressed a laugh. "Um... I think you'll be trampled by your own army before you even get to the battle field."

"Dang it." Toby hung his head in shame. "Why did Herobrine have to do this?"

My eyes turned wide. "Whoa... _Herobrine_ did that to you?"

Toby looked back at me, anger burning in his eyes. "You make a joke, and I swear to Notch Almighty that you will be sent to the Nether."

I raised my hands in surrender. "Okay, Tiny-Toby."

"Gryphon! Kill!"

The white ball of fur growled demonically and lunged at me, throwing me against the ground and trying to rip my throat out. "Augh! I'm sorry! I'M SORRY!"

"Gryphon! Heel!"

I inspected myself. Not a scratch. Incredibly lucky considering what I saw Gryphon do to Gabuscus. I stood up. "Alrighty, then. I think it's time to start heading over to Alpha Base #1."

That's when—very obviously—things began to go wrong.

Blabid and Lignite suddenly materialized in front of the door, covered in wounds and blood. They were obviously tired, from fighting and the teleportation. Blabid actually collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.

I ran over. "Holy squid shit!"

"Blabid! Lignite! You guys are okay!" Toby snapped the collar on Gryphon and steered him over to our friends. "I wondered where you guys had gone!"

Blabid looked down at Tiny-Toby. "Why are you so small?"

"Don't ask."

Lignite coughed, a puff of black smoke coming from his mouth. "We went... over to the... Sky Army HQ... but there was nothing left."

I turned stiff. "What do you mean?"

"The Squids," Blabid answered. "They blew it up right in front of us! We thought you guys were dead!"

I growled. "Dammit."

Lignite nodded. "I said the same thing. I thought about going to the Skyhub 2013, but..."

A tear ran down Blabid's cheek. "THOSE SONS OF BITCHES BURNED IT! THEY BURNED THE SKYHUB 2013!"

I stared at the two Sky Army generals. "Are you guys fucking with me right now?"

"No!" Lignite hissed, puffing out his chest and showing the black _L_. "The beloved Skyhub 2013 has been laid to rest..."

Blabid held up a small shard of budder and handed it to me. "This is all that we could salvage."

I held the tiny shard of budder in my hand, sudden anger filling me. "Listen to me, you two. Do you know what happened to PBG or anyone else that was fighting Herobrine with you?"

They both shrugged. "Nope."

I clenched my jaw. "What about the children of Notch or Herobrine? They all went missing about a few hours ago."

"Zilch."

I took a frustrated breath. "Is there anything else that we may need to know?"

Lignite shook his head. "Not as far as we know."

Then—of course—it got worse.

Sapphire, Ruby, and Susan all burst into the room, screaming for everyone to come inside. Deadlox, Ethan, Jerome, Bajan, and MUDKIPZ quickly ran into the room, firing arrows and fighting with swords. The trio of girls slammed the doors shut, leaning all their weight against them. "Gabuscus! Push something in front of this!"

The secondary leader of The Audience shoved a heavy bookcase against the iron doors, watching as the barricade quivered while something kept ramming itself against the door. We all stared in horror and listened to the screams of innocent people. The language of the Squidlantians shouted from behind the door.

Sapphire threw me a grenade. "We got company."

"Shit," I muttered, pulling out my budder sword.

Tiny-Toby steered Gryphon to my direction. "I'll cause a distraction. You guys find as many Audience Members as you can and send them to Alpha Base #1. Got it?"

"What?" Susan asked.

Toby smirked triumphantly and turned towards the door. "Gabuscus. Move the bookshelf, and get ready for the time of yo lives!"

Gabuscus only sighed. "Why am I friends with this guy?"

"Because I'm the muscle and you're the joker."

Gabuscus looked at him. "I think you have that backwards."

"Whatever. Just move the bookcase."

Gabuscus shrugged and braced himself against the heavy wooden shelf. "Please try to come back without an entire army following you."

"You bet your bucket I'll have an army with me!"

The secondary leader rolled his eyes and pushed away the shelf. "Have fun." He opened the steel doors quickly.

Toby pulled out his diamond sword. "_FOR AUDIENCE!_"

* * *

**There we go! A week's worth of hard, tiring, best quality work that I can conjure during the first month of school!**

_**IANGEL IS NOT DEAD! I SWEAR TO NOTCH ALMIGHTY SHE IS NOT DEAD! SO PULL UP YOUR BIG-BOY PANTS AND STAY PATIENT!**_

**Also, I'm not being a b**** ***** ******* *** ***** ***h for no longer accepting OCs, like one of you PMed me from my last update! I will forgive you for now (Name withheld for privacy reasons), but next time, I'm blockin' yo ass!**

**Anyways, a quick announcement guys: Over the week, a few of my friends got together (Over Skype since I go to a school out of my county) and began to talk about Youtubers and Vine videos as a random subject. We talked about Tobuscus, Pewdiepie, Skydoesminecraft and other Sky Army generals, Smosh, blah, blah, blah! Then we directed our conversation to VLog channels: Toby Turner, IanH (Kind of...), HigaTV, and so many other channels dedicated to VLogs and other weird shit.**

**Then one of my friends said one sentence: "Why don't we make a Youtube channel!"**

**So, this may be a good possibility, and we may start a Youtube channel!**

**But remember, this is a work-in-progress idea. This might not happen, but I want to know what _you_ guys think about the idea! We may do things such as casual VLogs and things like that (That was the original plan). But, I had one idea, thanks to a Vine video labeled: Belly-Flopping in Random Places (If you haven't seen this Vine, or don't know what Vine is, I would suggest checking it out). The idea was simple: Film ourselves doing random crap in our school, edit, post, boom! 1,000,000 subscribers, bitches!  
**

**Well, not really the last part, but you get the point!**

**So, quick recap: Possibility of making a Youtube channel. If we finally do decide to make the channel, I will inform you guys!**

***Whispering* It's a promise.**

**As for now, make sure to submit questions, shout-out requests! Remember to follow and favorite if you enjoyed, and I will see you all soon!**

**So tell me, Awesomer Army Members: Why did you do dis?**

**-The Awesomer**


	13. Chapter 13: Things Are Looking Up—Not

Sky POV—

Tiny-Toby burst out of the room on Gryphon, screaming bloody murder and stabbing the foot of a Squidlantian. They yelped in pain and started chasing after my miniature friend as he ran around the hall singing as loud as he could: "DO YOU LIKE MY SWORD, SWORD? MY DIAMOND SWORD, SWORD!"

I pulled out my budder sword and looked at everyone that had made it into the room. "Find as many Audience Members and send them to Alpha Base #1."

Ethan, Deadlox, Bajan, and Ruby pulled out their bows, large grins and they notched arrows with shiny arrowheads. I cocked my head. "What are those?"

"Budder arrows," Bajan answered. "Remember when Antvenom was shot with that arrow with the Squid blood on the tip? That was out inspiration."

I nodded. "Clever."

Ruby struck a flint-and-steel and lit the budder arrow ablaze. "Okay. We'll cover you while you run out. See you guys soon."

Sapphire patted her sister's back. "Be careful, Ruby."

"I'm always careful, yes?" Ruby smiled and ran out the door. "HERE'S RUBY!"

_Sky! Before you go, you need to know something!_ Aether yelled in my mind.

"Go ahead, Aether," I whispered.

_Dawn is okay, but they are using her and the others as bait! Don't get captured, and don't go into the Squid Army base!_ he informed me.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Um... okay."

Alrighty! Nether said afterwards. Let's kick some Squid ass!

* * *

PBG POV—

I sat in the corner, punching at the cobblestone frustratedly. "Almost... there guys. Then... we can... escape!"

Seto sighed and shook his head. "Give it up, PBG. It's enchanted. There's no way we're gonna tunnel outta here."

I kept punching the cobblestone. "But I'm so close! We're gonna get outta here and warn everybody!"

Seto shook his head again, a little more firmly. "No, PBG. We're just gonna have to wait—"

"For what? For The Squids to brain wash us? For them to kill us? For the war to be lost?" I growled. "No way."

Seto tossed a plasma ball at another wall boredly. "No. We're waiting for Sky—"

"Enough for waiting with Sky! We've done enough waiting! We're gonna take the situation into our own hands now!" I snapped, turning my attention from the wall. I glared at Seto before turning back to the cobblestone. "We're gonna—!"

Ssundee grabbed my hand before I could strike the wall again. I looked up at him, and he gravely shook his head. "Stop."

I looked at my fists, which were scratched and bloody. I looked at the wall, a soft glow dampened by my blood. I hung my head in shame. I wouldn't see my brother and best friend again. I sat down in the corner and hugged my knees. "Why? Why did I have to join the Sky Army?"

Seto shrugged as he opened his cupped palms. Levitating several inches from his palm, was a tiny plasma ball. It glowed a soft green before fading away. I had a small glimmer of hope inside that maybe Seto could use his magic...

_No,_ I told myself. _You know it won't ever work._

I sighed, burying my head in my hands. Would I see McJones or Kyrak again?

A Squid guard opened our cell door and threw us a loaf of bread. "Eat." He closed the door.

It only took us three seconds to process what he was saying. Ssundee and I both rushed hungrily to the food, about to tear it to nothing but shreds, when Seto threw a plasma ball at the bread. The bread exploded into nothing but crumbs and fire. Both of us stared at the burnt spot that once held food.

Seto leaned against the wall. "Don't trust it. It's _The Squids._"

Ssundee hung his head and laid back on the bed. "Shit."

_Knock knock._

I looked up at Ssundee. He was lying on one of the beds messing with with his sunglasses. Seto was sitting on the ground, working on another plasma ball. I buried my head again.

_Knock knock._

I looked up again. "Which one of you is doing that?"

Seto stared at me under his purple hoodie. "Doing what?"

"The knocking." I turned to Ssundee. "Was it you?"

He shook his head, sitting up in the bed and pushing his sunglasses back into place. "I heard it too."

_Knock knock. _I heard a tiny voice accompany the knocking: "Hello?"

Ssundee pointed at the corner. "It's from there."

"No shit," Seto responded.

I walked to the corner and put my ear against the cobblestone. Nothing happened. I knocked once: _Knock._

_Knock knock._

_Knock knock knock!_

"Guys! There's someone on the other side!" I yelled excitedly.

Seto stood up quickly. "You're shitting us, right?"

"No!" I pointed to the wall. "Listen!" I slammed my fist firmly against the wall. It wasn't three seconds later that I received a responding, _Knock!_

Ssundee shoved me aside. "Stand back!" He ran full force into the wall. "Ow."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. That's totally gonna work." I turned to Seto. "You got anything powerful enough?"

He shrugged. "Do you got two minutes of warming up? Plus, how many layers of enchanted cobblestone is that?"

I sighed. "Just see what you can do, and do it. Let's see if we can determine if this guy is a Sky Army recruit." I knelt next to the wall and pressed my ear against the cold stone. The vaguely-remembered lessons of Morse Code...

_Do you understand us?_

Yes.

I felt a jolt of alarm and surprise as the answer came through. "Oh my Notch..."

"Shh!" Seto scolded me.

I thought for a second. _Are you a Sky Army recruit?_

Yes.

I felt a glimmer of faint hope inside of my heart. _Are you captured?_

Yes.

_What is your name?_

What is yours?

I hesitated before finally answering: _I'd rather keep that a secret. Are you hurt?_

No.

I sighed. _Are you alone?_

Yes.

_Do you have weapons?_

No.

"Got it!" Seto shouted. "Stand back!"

_Back up!_ I quickly warned before running from the wall.

Seto took a deep breath, reeled his hands on his chest, then protruded them forward. "Pro populo nostro, arborem tibi iram in potestate!"

A plasma ball the size of my torso erupted from Seto's hands, throwing him backwards and exploding against the wall. Debris and rubble rained down, forcing Ssundee and I to hit the floor and cover our heads. I squeezed my eyes shut to clear out the dust and pebbles before coughing. "That. Was. _Awesome!_"

Seto sat up weakly. "Never tell me to do that again."

"PBG? Seto? Ssundee?"

* * *

iAngel POV—

"Bodil!" I screamed, sitting up in a cold sweat.

A familiar man backed up in alarm. "Okay. It seems like you're okay!"

I squinted, my eyes adjusting to the light to make out two men. One of them was in a armored ninja suit with a grey mask, a sword strapped to his waist and a row of iron knives along with the sword. The second man was about the same height range, with tan jeans, a blue jacket, stone sword, and two different colored eyes.

I felt a sigh of relief. "Vic. Red Flare."

The two friends nodded. "We're glad you're safe. What the Nether were you doing in the first place?" Red Flare asked.

I stared blankly at them.

Red Flare growled. "Where were you?"

I finally decided to lie. If they knew where I had been, I would be chin-deep in shit. I shook my head instead. "I... don't remember."

"Really?" Red Flare asked.

I nodded. "Really."

Vic shook his head. "Hand me your wrist."

I offered out my hand, which Vic took and pointed to. "What's this?"

My eyes turned wide. There was a tiny inscription that I never noticed before. It was no larger than my pinkie nail, colorless and almost impossible to spot unless I stared at it hard enough. It was a Squid.

Vic looked at me. "Are you working with them?"

I shook my head quickly. "No! Why would I work with those bastards?"

Red Flare hissed, "Bodil is probably dead right now because of your actions! What did you do!?"

I lowered my gaze, my lips trembling and my eyes already filling with tears. "I—I... We..."

Ck burst into the room, slamming the door shut behind him. "Note to self: Don't take a kill from a pack of wolves." He grabbed a grenade and opened the door quickly, throwing out the projectile and slamming the door shut again. A small explosion shook the door, followed by yelps of pain. "That ought to do it," Ck said casually, brushing off his hands.

Vic looked back at me. "Why do you have this symbol on you?"

I forced back the tears. I was a child of Notch. I could do better. "I... I don't know."

Red Flare grabbed the collar of my hoodie, but I didn't fight back. Either I was too weak or to distraught. "Listen to me you little shit. I don't care whether you're Notch's daughter or a spawn from my shit. You are gonna tell us where you were, and now, or I am going to feed you to those monsters that almost killed you."

I burst: "My siblings and Marz and Noah and Bodil and I went to a nearby Squid base to blow it up and The Squids already knew we were coming so they fired gas arrows and only Bodil and I escaped but then it turned to night and the monsters almost killed him and I saved him!" I wailed without taking a breath. Tears dripped down my cheeks. "I failed! My siblings are dead! Bodil is probably dead! Noah and Marz are dead!"

Red Flare dropped his grip on me, leaving me sniffling and crying. Ck and Vic just stared at me with horror. I felt a surge of something deep inside, a need that I wanted to fulfill. But I knew I couldn't teleport away.

Ck looked at me with sad eyes. "You tried to blow up a nearby base?"

I nodded. "I'm an idiot, with no family, no respect from my friends, and a failure," I said bitterly.

Vic shook his head. "You are not."

I closed my eyes and held back more tears. "Really? I was one of the few people in the group who actually wanted to do that. _I_ am responsible for those deaths. I—"

"You didn't do anything," Ck interupted.

I shook my head. "Bodil, Noah and Marz, and my siblings are—"

"_They're not dead! Now, stop acting like a baby and start acting like a real daughter of Notch!" _Vic burst. "I can't take it anymore!"

I stared at him, along with the others, in surprise. He took a breath before continuing, "I'm sorry. But there has been so much death recently, in so many different armies and alliances, because of this war. There has been so much loss, and heart-break, and death, that it is starting to become a normal thing. But, you brothers and sisters are still alive. Bodil is still stranded in a tree. Marz and Noah are cowering before their father. And it's not too late to save them. If you do not dry your fucking tears, remember you're a daughter of Notch, and start acting like it, you're going to lose all of them! You know who could save them in time? iAngel. The _real_ iAngel. Right now, you are a shell, stuck in a glass case of emotion that will endanger both you and others around you!"

Red Flare whistled, clearly impressed. Ck lowered his gaze like a dog.

"I..."

"So, you have a choice. You can stay here, mourning over your still-breathing friends and family; or you can go out there, and show them that you don't fuck around with iAngel, Daughter of Notch and Sky Army General," Vic explained to me.

* * *

Del POV—

Sitting in the cell, I had nothing to do. Literally.

They chained us all up in enchanted chains, threw us into three-block layered enchanted obsidian cells, and rigged the cells so that without proper identification, the inside would drop three hundred grenades. I tunnel my way out, trick the guards, and much less move around.

Oh well. At least I was with my brothers and sisters.

Sierra and Kate were both in a corner, trying their best not to burst into tears in pure fear and horror. Luna was laid on the bed, her broken leg making the guards give her just a little bit of pity to help her. But that didn't mean that she was not chained. Actually, she had the worse case: Since she was part enderman, they also enchanted the chains to make sure she didn't teleport away. As far as I knew, Marz and Noah were in a different cell. And...

Polska and Zhubox had managed to find a way to stand up and move around the cell, despite the chains. They were screaming horrible, horrible insults at each other. "You're a disgrace, Polska! _You're_ the reason we're in here right now!"

"Oh! It's _my_ fault?" Polska demanded. "What about you, Mr. _I-should-dress-up-like-TobyTurner-and-be-a-jack- ass-to-my-sister?_"

"You're a bitch!" Zhubox shouted.

"Fuck you!" Polska spat.

"Go to the Nether!" he cursed.

"Be banished by Father forever!" she screamed.

"You, my enemy, are working for The Squids! You're just a stupid _Hunger Games _fan who wanted to look like a stupid-ass girl with a bow!" he hissed.

Polska burst, running full speed into Zhubox and embedding her head in his stomach. He went down with a yelp of pain, slamming against the wall and causing what is now among our memories as: _The Fight of the Trolls._

Zhubox bit Polska in the shoulder, making her recoil in pain and giving him the chance to tackle her back. He placed his shoulder against her throat, shoving her against the wall and strangling her. Polska retaliated by kicking him in the groin and head. He fell to the ground, curling into a ball. Polska pinned his shoulders to the floor with her knees, headbutting him as many times as she could manage.

I burst. "STOP!" I struggled to my feet and dove between the two, breaking the fight. "It's _NO ONE'S _fault! _NO ONE_ is responsible. _NO ONE_ should be fighting! _NO ONE _should be trying to rip their throats out!"

Polska spit in Zhubox's direction. "Stay the fuck away from me or I'll hang you by your chains."

"You better stay on your side on the cell, or I'm gonna come over there and rip you to bloody shreds that looked like an accident."

I hissed at both of them.

Luna stared at us in horror, then sighed. "Hatred. The only tool that can turn best friends against each other."

Sierra glared at Luna. "Oh! Don't start talking like this! Then we're _all_ gonna start fighting!"

Kate began too: "Stop, Sierra! What's wrong with saying what might be true?"

"You little...!"

And that's where it all began. Everyone began to fight over a certain subject, whether it was just verbal arguing, or physical. Kate, Sierra, and Luna all began to fight over if it was someone's fault or not. Polska and Zhubox kept tackling each other over whose fault it was between them. I could only stare in shock, watching as our relationship between all of us began to fall apart.

I dropped to the floor and burrowed into a nearby corner, hiding my head in my knees and crying. We were all going to die.

* * *

Noah POV—

"Marz? Marz? Where are you? _Marz?_"

I walked through the gloom, barely able to walk and barely able to see a block in front of me. After The Squids had captured us, I remembered seeing a quick flicker of the form of my Father, Herobrine. After that, I only remembered the screams of everybody else before I found myself in... wherever I was. It reminded me of The End: Dark, empty, and full of possible dangers. But I had only run into nothing that posed me any danger, and that was what worried me.

I heard only the hollow, empty silence that terrified me. "_Marz! _Answer me, dammit!"

_Noah..._

I whirled, my sword raised in a protective stance. "Marz!"

_Noah..._

I started to back away. I had a bad feeling deep in my gut. "Marz?"

_Noah... run..._

I took the advice quickly as I heard the monstrous screech of something huge. I stumbled and did my best to run, but my leg prevented me from going anywhere. It was injured somehow before I appeared in wherever I was. I limped as fast as I could manage down into the endless dark, my sword raised and at my side when I needed it. "MARZ!"

"Noah!"

"Marz?" I hobbled faster. "Where are you?"

"No! Stay away! No!"

I felt panic paralyze my body. "MARZ! I'M COMING, MARZ!"

"NO! _NO! GET AWAY! NO!"_

I finally broke into a run, trying my best to ignore the pain in my leg. I screamed my sister's name, desperate to get to her now for both of our sakes. The monstrous screech was following me now, and I was praying that it wouldn't find me. "MARZ!"

_"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

I saw my sister crumpled into a heap on the ground. I immediately dropped my sword and ran to her. Dropping to the ground, I frantically shook her shoulder. "Marz! Marz! Please don't do this! Say something! No!"

The monster seemed to be getting closer, and I began to panic. "MARZ! GET THE FUCK UP! SAY SOMETHING!"

She said nothing. I put an ear to her chest, and heard nothing.

I burst into tears. "Marz...! No! NO! NO! _NO!"_

I felt hot breath on my back, but I didn't move. I didn't even flinch. I sat there, crying over the body of my sister.

_Noah! Run! That's not me! Run! Go!_

"Marz..." I whimpered.

_Run! Move it! Go! I'm not dead!_

"Marz..."

_RUN!_

Something took a large, painful bite from my back, and I sat up.

I was in a cold sweat, my face dripping as I gasped and looked around nervously. I was in a room, obviously a prison cell, but it was different. It had a few posters and a soft bed. There were a few chest probably filled with nothing, bookshelves full with books of enchanting and magic, and a padlocked door.

_Dammit, Noah._

I looked around again, only to find no one. "Hello?"

_First off, we're still mentally communicating. As usual, when I die in your dreams, you have to jeopardize the mission AGAIN. Geez._

I listened carefully, trying to identify where it came from. I sighed in response to Marz's voice. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm just used to protecting you that I would give up my will to live if you died, even in a dream."

_I understand, and I'm actually quite grateful for that. But that was our only way you were gonna be able to teleport into my room._

I sighed. The memory was starting to come back. Herobrine had taken us back to the Nether, to the home we trained and lived in. This was now our prison and new permanent home. As far as I knew, Marz was in a room next to mine. Marz and I were talking earlier, when we both developed a genius idea of being able to go into one of our subconscious minds, then be able to materialize right in front of them. The problem was that it was tricky, dangerous, and could only be done once. I was in Marz's subconscious, and so close to being able to materialize in front of her too...

I got off of my bed and looked around. "Is there anything else we can do?"

I could almost _hear_ Marz thinking. _Um... what do you have in your chests?_

I walked over to one of the chests and opened it up. "I got a chest with... holy shit! It's full of steak!"

_I got bread. I guess that's our food supply. What else?_

I closed the chest and looked in another. "I have..." I put a hand to my mouth to suppress the vomit from escaping my stomach. "I have human heads that look a lot like Sky and the rest of our friends."

_I have a head that looks like Pan. That's a nice thing to give us,_ Marz snorted.

I quickly closed the chest and looked at the second one. "Ah! Here we go! Something that might be useful. I have some obsidian, a few arrows, a bow, and... is that my old wooden sword?"

_It seems like he gave us our old childhood weapons. Great. Grand. Wonderful. We can have mental sword fights with each other._

I laughed. "Um... and I have some sand."

_What do you have sand for?_

"Beats me," I said, shrugging even though she couldn't see me. "All I need is a water bucket, and I can have a miniature beach."

_Yay._

I checked the next chest, and quickly shut it for the sake of my sanity. "Don't check the next chest in your room."

_What? It's not like_—_OHMYNOTCH!_

"Yeah... told ya." I looked at the bookshelves. "Check the shelves." I quickly scanned through the books, running my finger along the spines.

_Let's see... um... Magic for Dummies; Enchanting 101; How to Make Enchanted Weapons; Magic and Enchanting for Children..._

"You seriously have books labeled that?" I asked. "I got _Black Magic; Plasma Orbs for Beginners; _and _How to Summon Your Own Army from the Nether._"

_At least you got the more useful books. Grab the one with Plasma Orbs and start reading the contents._

I followed her directions and opened up to the Chapter Contents. _"Plasma Orbs for Sports, Rainbow Orbs, Communication Orbs_—"

_Yes!_ she interupted. _Communication Orbs! What do we need?_

I turned to the page. "Um... A potion made of three Soulsands, a Netherquartz crystal, sand, an enchanted obsidian block..." I trailed off. "Oh Notch..."

_Shit. I have the Soulsand and Netherquartz. I just need the sand and enchanted obsidian._

I looked back at the chests. "I have that covered. It's the last item I'm worried about."

_What is it?_

I swallowed. "A beacon."

_So?_

"Where can we get diamond? Or a Nether Star?"

There was a tense silence.

_Okay. Any other orbs we can try?_

I checked the contents, my finger falling on one page number. "_Shadow Orbs._"

_Perfect! Tell me what the page says!_

I swallowed, then slammed the book shut. "You are _not_ doing that spell."

_What? Tell me what we have to do!_

"No," I answered, "because the first thing it says on the page is: _If not done properly, spell may vaporize the spell-caster._"

_Well, what choice do we have, huh? We're literally going to be locked up in the Nether, while our friends are getting their asses kicked in the Overealm. So, are we gonna do the spell, or wait until we see our friends lying in a pool of their own blood. So tell me the damn spell!  
_

"_You_ are not doing that spell. _I'm_ doing that spell."

_W_—_What?_

I took a shaky breath. "I'm not gonna have you vaporize if we get something wrong. I'm going to do that spell."

_No!_

I sighed. "I'll be fine. I can get it correct."

There was another tense silence.

_Fine,_ Marz finally grumbled, clearly scared and annoyed. _Is there anything I can do?_

* * *

Sky POV—

I burst out of the room, my friends behind me as I raised my budder sword. "FOR SKY ARMY!" I cried, and we began our spree.

I dodged a quick arrow and slashed my sword through a Squid's throat. A Squid tried to stab me with an iron knife, but missed, so badly that it was pathetic. I decapitated him quickly and ducked as a volley of arrows sailed over my head. I ran over to the Squid archers just as they started to reload, dropping to the ground and giving a sweep-kick to send the archers to the ground. My friends took care of them as I ran down the hall.

I kicked down a door and found a small family of four people hiding in the room, the father of the family holding a bow. He nearly fired at me in shock when I tackled the door. I lowered my sword. "Follow me. We're evacuating to Alpha Base #1."

The family stumbled out of the room, thanking me gratefully as I walked out to find more Audience Members.

"Sky! Duck!"

I took the advice from whoever was yelling at me and hit the ground, watching as a Squid crumpled to the ground with a budder dagger in his skull. Athena came trotting over in a few seconds, retrieving her dagger and helping me up. "Nice aim," I complemented.

"No time for that, Sky. We're a little busy," Athena sighed. "Left flank."

I spun, my budder sword turning into an arc of death as I chopped two Squids into pieces. "True, but you can at least say 'thank you.' " I raised my eyebrows. "Behind you."

Athena hit the ground and did a sweep-kick, taking out an archer and stabbing him in the chest. "Thank you."

"Now we're even." I raised my sword. "Get the survivors. I'll go ahead and start taking these bastards out. Do _not_ be afraid to use the wither skulls."

Athena ran off, leaving me with around twenty Squidlantians. I raised my sword, a slight smirk tugging at my lips. "Let's do dis."

A few swords-men charged, blades ready to chop me clean in half. I dove to my right and watched the navy-blue blades create sparks against the cobblestone. "Missed."

An archer fired an arrow, but it went a little wide. The arrowhead grazed my budder sword, making more sparks fly. I rolled and slashed through a few Squidlantians' legs, making them scream and fall to the ground. The swords-men from earlier lunged at me all at once, and I parried their strikes. "Now that's hardly fair," I taunted.

They all hissed and made an attempt to kick me in the stomach. I dodged and chopped their heads off. A row of archers aimed at me, and I backed against a wall. There was no escape.

Or was there?

I saw Tiny-Toby, riding on Gryphon, as he quietly crept towards me. He was unnoticeable as he raised his diamond sword. All he needed was a couple more seconds. I could easily buy that time.

I smiled, dropping my sword and raising my hands. "You got me."

They all lowered their bows, shocked.

I saw Toby hop off of Gryphon and whisper in his ear. Just a few more seconds, then I would be able to show them what we could do.

I felt my excitement boil inside me. "But before you shoot me—or capture me—I want to ask you one thing: Have I introduced you to my favorite dog?"

The Squidlantians looked at each other in confusion.

I laughed. "I probably should!" I took a deep breath, then whistled. "Gryphon! Kill!"

Deep, demonic growl erupted from the white dog behind the Squids, and in a blur of white fur and navy-blue blood, Gryphon sat in front of me wagging his tail.

"Good boy!" I complimented. "Thank you, Toby."

Toby mounted his dog, gave a smile, then rode off, his sword still raised as he screamed: "NO ONE ELSE CAN MAKE A SWORD EXACTLY IN THIS MANNER, MANNER! WELCOME TO MY MANOR, MANOR! I CA-CA-CANNA CANNA!"

I swiped my sword from the ground and ran, a large grin on my face. I had never been happier for a dog in my life. By the time I had made it to the main grounds outside, the smile was already fading.

_Um... Sky? _Aether asked in my mind.

"Yeah?"

We don't know how to say this...

_But, I think you should duck._

I hit the dirt again. Several knives sailed over my head, but it was retaliated by an arrow. An explosion sent dirt and rocks flying. The arrow was a TNT arrow.

Nether was laughing inside of my mind. That was awesome!

"Nice one!" I shouted, looking back to see Chance loading his bow again. "Better start hacking away my man!" he chuckled, his appearance changing to a creeper in a prison jump-suit. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

Snapp appeared out of nowhere on a horse, holding his double-bladed diamond sword (Or crystalline, as he liked to call it). He rode through hordes of Squidlantian attackers, slicing them to pieces like nobody's business. "This is _awesome!_"

I ran, my budder sword no longer a sword, but a beam of yellow death. I felt anger burn inside of me. They could blow up Sky Army HQ, and burn the Skyhub 2013, and attack The Audience HQ, and kidnap my wife. But all of those actions were going to come with devastating consequences.

Sapphire and Ruby both started running beside me, smiles on their blood-caked faces. "You ready for this?"

I didn't even look back as I chuckled. "You know I am."

Ruby notched a budder arrow, pulling back the string to her chin. "Athena! Operation: _Arrow-Wither!_"

Two seconds later, I saw a wither skull sail above the chaos of Audience Members and Squidlantians. Ruby fired the arrow, the arrowhead hitting home and sailing into the crowd.

Sapphire cleared her throat. "IN COMING!"

Where the arrow landed, an explosion sent Squids flying over the obsidian gates that protected the Audience HQ. I felt happiness fill my heart as I saw them fly. "Bon Voyage!"

But it was there that it got worse.

Worse than before.

Just plain: Worse.

I heard screams behind me. Deadlox, Minecraftuniverse, Bajan, and Jerome scream as Squids overwhelmed them. They disappeared in a sea of Squidlantians. I ran to help, but I heard Blabid and Lignite shriek. They were both being hauled off in cages, being treated like animals by The Squids. Susan, Sparklez, and Caveman had arrows shot into their bodies until they fell to the ground, alive but too weak to keep going. McJones and Kyrak were chained up like insane criminals, along with Minion and Markiplier. Snapp's horse was slaughtered and he was captured with Chance. Ruby and Sapphire cried out as they were thrown into cages like Blabid and Lignite. Athena was chained _and_ put into a cage. Gabuscus, Ethan, Antvenom, and Ray disappeared in a sea of Squids.

I lowered my sword, realizing that we were losing. "No..."

Three Squids tackled me to the ground, pinning me to the ground with pure force. I lay on the ground, staring at the sun overhead.

"This can't be happening... Not like this..."

* * *

Bodil POV—

I opened my eyes with a groan, my head throbbing with horrible pain. There were no more monsters below, but I never moved from my spot. I failed to save iAngel, and I didn't deserve to keep living. Maybe when the night came again a spider would kill me.

Oh well. I was probably going to die of hunger or dehydration first.

My hand brushed against my nearly broken budder sword. Why should I wield a weapon like this? I sighed and closed my eyes again. Listening to the leaves rustle behind me, I wondered if she was even alive. Probably not.

"Bodil?"

I kept my eyes shut. Hunger was already setting in.

"Guys! He's still alive!" I heard a female voice yell. "Bodil! Can you hear me?"

I kept them shut.

"Bodil, you Notch-damned Troll! Answer me!"

I finally opened my eyes, and to my absolute surprise, I saw iAngel.

* * *

Dawn POV—

I walked around the cell nervously, wringing my hands and biting my lips. "No. Nope. No. This is not good. This is _not_ good."

I was staring at three of my friends through the rubble: PBG, Seto, and Ssundee. They had gotten captured by The Squids like me, and they had no idea how they could get out.

Well, except the spell Seto just did, but I don't think he can do that time, after time, after time, after time again.

PBG placed a hand on my shoulder. "First off, good to see you. Everyone's been worried."

I nodded. "Good to see you guys."

Seto leaned against a wall and crossed his arms. "But this is also a bad thing to see each other. The Squids are planning something, and it's bigger than we could have ever imagined."

Ssundee wiped the dust from his sunglasses, his sleeve covered in the enchanted dust. PBG's hands were bloody, like he had lost a fight with a block of iron badly. Seto was covered in dust, but deathly pale. I guessed the spell he had done had worn him out.

Ssundee coughed. "So, what now? We can't just wait for Sky."

I shook my head. "We're _bait_ for Sky. The Squids are trying to lure him in here so they can capture him and kill him."

"So," Seto started, "what are we supposed to do?"

"Wait," I answered. "And pray Sky has a better idea to break us out."

PBG sighed and sat in a corner. "How's the baby?" he asked me.

I put a hand over my stomach. "Fine. He's still kicking."

No one said anything else. They just sat in their corners and waited. I wanted to do the same thing, but I something deep inside of me that required my attention. And it wasn't the baby.

It was hope.

I walked back into my original prison cell and smiled. "I'll see you soon, Sky."

* * *

**There we go! A follow up on iAngel, Noah and Marz, and the rest of the children of Notch, the battle that lead the Sky Army to defeat, what happens to Bodil, and the reunion of Dawn, PBG, and Ssundee.**

**Okay! That's the entire series! Thanks for reading and giving me support! I will see you in another story!**

**Nah! I'm joking with ya! Let's see how many people send in reviews that look like:**

_**WHY DID YOU END THE SERIES LIKE THIS!**_

_**DON'T DO DIS!**_

_**WHY!?**_

**We shall see what happens...**

**Anyways, thanks for reading! Be sure to submit questions and requested shout-outs before the series ends, and make sure to favorite and follow if you enjoyed! A final salute, and I will see you next time!  
**

**So tell me, Awesomer Army Members: Do you regret nothing?**

**-The Awesomer**


	14. Chapter 14: Look for the Surprise!

**A salute to the Sky Army Recruits, Readers, and Awesomer Army Members! Another chapter out already? Wow!**

**So, I'm going to give you guys a challenge! Today, I put in _FIVE_ Easter Eggs in this story! Whoever can find all five Easter Eggs first, will win an amazing sneak peek at something _very_ special to me! But what can it be? What will it be?**

**Maybe you'll get some budder!**

**Or I'll reveal my real name to you!**

**Or, just maybe, it will be a sneak peek at my new _personal _Youtube channel that will feature me, VLogs by me, and so many Budder-ific things in store for the winner! It will not be the one I mentioned in Chapter 11 (Because it won't include my friends. It's a _personal_ channel).  
**

**Er... as soon as I get it up and running...**

_**But The Awesomer! What will the Easter Eggs be about! So we don't miss**_** them!**

**The Easter Eggs will be about Youtubers! Mainly, these five popular Youtubers:**

**Pewdiepie (A Gamer)**

**Smosh (Comedians and Gamers. Let's just focus on the Skits)**

**Tobuscus (Comedian and Gamer. Let's just focus on the Skits/Songs)**

**Ray William Johnson (Comedian and Reviewer)**

**and EpicMealTime (I have no idea what to call what these guys do. Why I'm adding them? Cause fuck you. That's why)!**

**May I say that the Tobuscus Easter Egg might be a little more difficult to find since Tobuscus is in this story. But, if you haven't seen these five Youtubers, I would suggest checking them out so you know what the Easter Eggs will be! So good luck, and I hope to see the Winner of the Easter Egg Hunt soon!**

* * *

Jerome POV—

I watched in horror as The Squids slaughtered recruits in front of our very eyes. There was nothing we could do as we sat in cages and were wheeled away. I was in a cage with MUDKIPZ, Bajan, Gabuscus (He had sunglasses on for some reason and was wearing them. For what reason, I didn't know), Snapp, and Minion, all of them biting, and kicking, and tugging at the bars to try and reach our friends. Gabuscus was screaming, calling out for Toby. As far as I knew, he was most likely squashed by someone. MUDKIPZ and Bajan tried squeezing through the bars to escape and keep fighting. Snapp was just trying to reach his friend, Chance. Minion was screaming at the Squids, telling them to fuck themselves and that they could go to the Nether. But there was nothing we could do. I sat on the ground and lowered my head. We were going to die. One of the Squidlantians that was pulling out cage from the massacre laughed with glee and began talking with his friend. I translated to myself, hoping I could get some information.

"I hear that Derpollous himself found Sky Army's little extra hideout. What was it called? 'Alpha Base #1?' "

My blood chilled.

"Yes," his friend answered. "They killed everyone in sight! They even found two monsters working with them! He captured them and sent them to our hideout!"

Viola and Felix! I had forgotten about them! I felt panic paralyze my body.

I saw several cages line up beside ours. I looked at the prisoners inside: One held Deadlox, Antvenom, Sparklez, Kermit, Minecraftuniverse, and Caveman. Another kept Ruby, Sapphire, Susan, Athena, Ethan, and Ray. A third imprisoned Markiplier, McJones, Kyrak, Blabid, Lignite, and Chance. The last one...

It held Sky. He was chained head-to-toe and in an enchanted cage. There was a _huge_ welt the size of an apple on his forehead, and keep in mind that I could see it even though he was _three cages away._ He leaned heavily against the bars, a soft moan escaping his lips.

Minion must have seen him too, and he stopped screaming insults towards The Squids. She tapped Bajan's shoulder. "Look."

Gabuscus kept banging on the bars until Minion finally punched his shoulders. "Hey! Muscles-Glasses! How about you look where everyone else is looking?"

Everyone in every cage finally stopped trying to escape, turning to stare at our friend.

I lowered our head, letting on phrase burst from my mouth: "We lost."

No one said a word. All of us finally sat down and propped their heads on their knees. We were defeated. And we just had to wait for the consequences.

* * *

Sky POV—

Dammit, Sky! Nether screamed at me.

I lowered my head in shame. I was standing in front of my two consciousnesses again, in the strange white void that Aether and Nether resided in. Nether was scolding me, and Aether... he was also scolding me, but at least in a calmer and nicer manner.

_Calm down, Nether. He was distracted_—

No! I'm not gonna calm down until he gets that he is supposed to kill The Squids. Not get killed by them!

I growled. "What would you have done?"

Kill all those bastards, even if it was the last thing I do!

"What about your friends? What about Aether?"

Defend them when I get the chance!

_That's just cold-blooded, Nether._

Tough shit!

I sighed and sat on the ground. "Either way, I failed, and I'm gonna die."

Aether grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. _No, you aren't. I'm going to tell you what you're going to do._

"Okay," I mumbled.

_You are going to wake up and find a way out of your cell. You are going to find all of your friends and help them escape. You are going to kill Derpollous, then destroy anything that may make The Squids start to attack you again._ Aether continued firmly: _And if they try to fuck with you, make sure you teach them NOT to fuck with you._

Wow, Nether said. I've never seen this side of you, Aether.

_Don't get used to it._

I stared at him. "Okay... is there anything else I should know?"

_Dawn's counting on you,_ Aether offered.

"Good thing to know."

Hey! Can I at least get some credit?

"Um... for what?" I asked.

I don't know. I just want credit for something.

I rolled my eyes. "Next time."

I watched as the world fade away, and I opened my eyes. The silver cage shined brightly in the afternoon sun, making a glare. I blinked. My sunglasses were gone. I wanted to rub my head, since there was a throbbing sensation, but my arms refused to move. Enchanted chains bound me tightly so that I couldn't even shift. I couldn't even move my legs.

"Wow, they're taking precautions seriously," I whispered.

What do you expect, Sky? You're the leader of the Resistance, and they just captured you.

"Point taken."

I craned my head towards my left to see two Squids pulling my cage. Both of them were talking, but I could hardly understand them. Not because they were speaking in their language, but because my ears kept ringing. Turning my head to my left, I could see several other cages holding my friends, all of them with grim looks on their faces. In one of the cages, Chance noticed me.

He frowned and sighed, mouthing out the words: "Do you have a plan, genius?"

I shook my head.

I saw him let out a deep breath. He shook his head gravely and lowered his head. My spirits fell. Usually Jerome had the good ideas. Now he was expecting me to have the ideas. Sure, I did have a few, but I doubted that they would work. I looked back at the cage bars, and let out a deep sigh.

The cages threw my friends and I forward in a quick halt. Squidlantians dropped whatever they were doing and rushed to the cages. But... one of the cages was empty.

I looked at the others and counted them off: "MUDKIPZ, Minion, Jerome, Kermit, Antvenom, Deadlox, Sparklez, Bajan, Gabuscus, Kyrak, McJones, Markiplier, Chance, Snapp, Blabid, Lignite, Minecraftuniverse..."

I trailed. Where was Ray? Sapphire and Ruby? Susan or Athena?

I saw Minecraftuniverse's eyes look into mine from his cage. "Where are they?" he asked, my hearing starting to clear.

I shrugged. Who knew?

Then it hit me: Could they be all be in a different realm?

* * *

Athena POV—

I opened my eyes an smiled. In the dark sky, the only light I could make out was the soft glow of the soft white ground beneath me. Large pillars of black obsidian that were randomly strewn across the land. In a puff of purple particles, an enderman croaked and offered me a block of Endstone.

Sapphire screamed to my left, bursting past me as three endermen chasing after her. Ray was frozen in fear, and I couldn't blame her. Susan... she was nowhere to be seen.

"Die!" I watched as a yellow blur pounced on the enderman in front of me and sliced off his head.

There she was.

Ethan grabbed my shoulders and shook them, his deep red eyes wide with fear. I could hear an imaginary voice screaming at me: _WHAT'S HAPPENING!? WHERE ARE WE!?_

Ruby ran over to help her sister, and I laughed. "Calm down, guys. You've never been to the End before?" I pocketed my Eye of Ender as I spoke. "Geez. You act like this isn't normal."

"This isn't normal!" Ray shouted at me, unfreezing. She shoved Ethan away and shook my own shoulders. "Get us out of here!"

I then felt the hot breath of something large behind me. Ethan and Ray both got looks of terror deep inside their eyes. Ruby and Sapphire shrieked, running away from my direction. Susan pulled out her obsidian sword and took a step forward. "Athena. Don't. Move."

I laughed. "Can I introduce you?" I turned around with my arms open. "Eris!"

Ethan gasped and tripped over nothing, kicking away from the Enderdragon in front of me. Ray stay where she was. Susan backed up in shock. "You _named_ that _thing!?_"

I growled. "That 'thing' is my little sister, if you can show some respect." Eris growled in response to my anger, passing my point across.

Ruby and Sapphire appeared behind me (Thanks to some enderpearls. Guess where those came from), fear and awe reflecting in their eyes. "Can we go back in the cages now?'

I laughed. "You haven't seen the other half of it yet." I pulled out my Eye of Ender and raised my eyebrows. "Watch this."

I tossed the blue-green orb into the air, a soft glow illuminating my face. The orb gently floated over Eris' head, and flashed a brilliant light. A soft beam appeared next to me, creating a mist-image of a little girl. She smiled sweetly and bowed. "A few more of the Sky Army generals! I welcome you to my realm of safety... if you don't agitate the endermen."

Susan burst past us, three endermen in full pursuit. "No shit!"

I laughed, looked at my friends who couldn't move. They all stared slack-jawed at my little sister. "What? You guys haven't seen crazier shit?" I asked.

Ethan pointed slowly at the dragon, then Mist-Eris, then the dragon again. He squeaked and stuttered in absolute shock and horror. Ray was still frozen in shock, trying not to make the dragon angry and chase after her. Ruby and Sapphire, clung to each other, their faces whiter than clean wool. Susan... she was obviously occupied at the moment (But had enough time to throw a couple curses my way for bringing her here). I turned towards Mist-Eris and smiled. "It's good to see you again, Eris."

My little sister smiled sweetly. "It is nice to know that you're okay. Was my... _assumption_ correct?"

My smile melted to a serious frown. "Yes. The Squids have launched an attack on The Audience HQ, blew up the Sky Army HQ, burn the Skyhub 2013, and if I'm correct, they also killed hundreds of recruits and destroyed Alpha Base #1."

"Ouch," she commented. "How did you escape?"

"All of us were in a cage and I remembered the Eye of Ender you gave me. Though... I'm not sure everyone else is happy that I brought them here."

Susan ran past me again, five more endermen chasing her. She got close enough to me to reach out her hand and slap my face as she ran past. "I hate you!"

Ethan began to tremble, his red eyes losing their color. Ruby and Sapphire decided to excuse themselves and help Susan with her problem. Ray... as far as I knew, she was digging a hole in the Endstone ground.

I walked over to the hole and knelt down. "Are you okay, Ray?"

"I'm trying not to get eaten if it wasn't obvious enough!" she shouted.

Mist-Eris walked to me and bent over the hole. "I'm not going to hurt you. Athena is a Wither-hybrid, yes?"

"Yeah..." Ray answered from the hole.

"Did she ever try to kill you?"

"No..."

Susan collapsed in front of us both. "Why... must there... be... endermen?"

Ethan leaped into the hole Ray was buried in a threw her back up to us. She stared at Eris for a little bit, then settled down. "Well, what can we do? Sky and everyone else is captured. Most of the recruits are dead. What now?"

I crossed my arm. "Um... Didn't one of the Squidlantians pulling our cage say that Derpollous didn't kill Viola or Felix? They just said that they _captured_ Viola and Felix."

Ruby and Sapphire nodded in unison. "Yeah. They did say that."

I felt a plan tickle in the back of my skull. "That means they're still alive. They still have a chance of fighting back."

Ethan leaped into the air, snapping his fingers as if he had an idea. He pulled out an ink sac from a dead squid and dipped his finger into the ink. He began to write on the Endstone ground: _Break them out! Find the hybrids & make a plan to break the others out!_

"How, exactly?" Susan asked.

Ethan pointed at the Eye of Ender levitating above the dragon's head, then the dragon, then all of us. _Back to the Overworld!_ he wrote.

I shook my head. "We can't teleport Eris over there. There's no possible way."

There was a silence.

"_Is_ there a possible way?" I finally asked.

Ethan grinned ear to ear. He dipped his finger in the ink again and started to draw. He drew buildings and labeled every room. He drew diagrams and pictures. Enemy species and different minerals that could be mined in the Aether and the Nether. He then finished it off by drawing a diagram of an Enderdragon, labeling the body parts and everything else.

I looked down at what he created. He had made an example diagram of how to make a portal! A portal to the Overworld that was big enough to teleport even and Enderdragon!

I looked at the minerals and blocks that would be needed to to make the portal. "You're sure that this will work, Ethan?"

He nodded excitedly, pulling out his hidden diamond pickaxe and pointing at the obsidian towers. Even though he didn't say a word, the message was clear:

_Let's get started already!_

* * *

Noah POV—

I sat on my knees in the middle of the circle composed of redstone. I closed my eyes and began to relax, my breathing matching up to what Marz wast telling me through mental conversation:

_In... Out... In... Out..._

I followed carefully, my muscles melting away. I was entering my subconscious mind, ready and willing to continue with the spell I was about to do. Marz' voice faded away as the world disintegrated around me. I relaxed completely and felt the darkness of my mind envelop me. I felt drowsy and sluggish, my body unable to move in the outside.

_Good,_ I thought to myself. _N__ow what?_

I looked around my subconscious. I was vaguely aware that I had to find my darkest fear and whatever I loathed the most and channel it into an orb. My outside body would do the rest. At least that was what I think the book said...

Dammit. I hate not being able to remember things.

I looked in the void again. "Hello?" I called out.

Herobrine' face suddenly flashed out of nowhere and disappeared instantly, but long enough to make me scream. My yells reached an inhuman pitch as I yelled out: "Jeauvlaur! I hate jump scares!"

_Look at that!_ I thought to myself, a slight grin growing on my face. _I just found two things that I loath! I'm making good progress!_

I concentrated. I seriously needed to focus. I began to dig deep into the subconscious part of myself.

I was swept away into a vision. I watched as Sky and my friends fought the war in the Overworld, but lost badly as they were slaughtered in front of me. Blood spilled and cries were carried out as Derpollous rose to rule over Minecra—

"No," I whispered to no one. "I'm afraid that might happen, but that's not my biggest fear."

The vision faded was instantly replaced by a new one: A fake me stabbing a wound into Herobrine's head, watching him fade away into non-existence. The Squids lay dead at his feet, bleeding and cold. I cocked my head. This is a good vision. Why would I be seeing this?

Then I saw it. Sky, Dawn, Ethan, and everyone else that I fought with during the war were slumped over on the ways, bleeding, dead, or dying. Marz was dangling by her feet from the ceiling from rusty iron chains, shrieking and crying as she watched me do what he was doing. He turned towards her... but his eyes. They were void-white. Not like the ones I had inherited from Herobrine.

They were _Herobrine's_ eyes!

The Herobrine that lay at the doppleganger's feet melted into the dead body of me.

My fake self moved slightly, a hand reaching towards my fake sister. "Marz..." It moaned—

"No!" I yelled, plugging my hands over my ears to block out fake-Marz' screams and squeezing my eyes shut. "That's not my biggest fear! So me something different!"

The vision faded into a last one: A fake me was kneeling down at Herobrine's feet, a sword in he hand. He was laughing as he pointed behind him and said something in a garbled language. My fake self nodded and turned around, eyes glazed over as he slashed his sword through something invisible...

The invisible thing began to bleed. The invisible thing shimmered and turned into my fake sister. She had a long, gaping wound on her neck. She fell to the ground, drowning in her own blood. The fake-me killed Marz, my sister. The only person I considered family—

I screamed and my eyes snapped open. I was back in my room in the Nether, levitating a few feet from the center of the redstone circle. My hands were about six inches apart, a dark orb that crackled with raw power in between them. Marz was yelling in my head: _Noah! Noah! Did it work? Noah!_

I breathed out slowly, regaining my breath as I broke into a smile. "Oh... I don't know. Did it?"

_Yes! Nice job!_

* * *

Dawn POV—

I sat on the wall, drumming my fingers on the cobblestone walls in boredom. PBG, Seto, and Ssundee all did the same, making a rythem as we did so.

_Dum-bum-bum-bum... Dum-bum-bum-bum..._

PBG sat up quickly and snapped his fingers. "Wait! I got it!"

We all leaned forward to listen. He opened his mouth to say what was on his mind, but no sound came out. He bit his lip, then shook his head. "Nah. That's stupid."

We groaned and slumped back onto the walls again. My thoughts droned on through my head, offering ideas and many different things that could or couldn't let us escape.

_Make some noise and maybe they'll open the door to quiet you down..._ One thought whispered.

I nodded to myself. "Go on," I whispered.

_Yell out something that will insult them... like "Go fuck yourselves!" or "Fuck you, Barbershop Pole!"_

I shook my head. "Nah."

Seto perked up, cocking his head to his left in silence. We all looked at him expectantly, but he remained silent.

"Seto?" Ssundee asked.

"Shh!" the sorcerer scolded.

I cocked my head towards the direction that Seto was listening to. I heard faint footsteps, but they gradually became louder and louder. I felt adrenaline pump through my veins.

Ssundee took control quickly: "Get Dawn back into her cell!"

I stood up and dashed into the cell, my heart pumping faster and faster. The steps started to echo through both of our cells: _Boom! Boom! Boom! _Seto shouted something at PBG, and I heard a horrible grinding noise come from my friends' cell as they shoved their bed over the hole in the wall.

I remained as quiet as I could get when I heard the cell door open. The Squidlantian guards shouted something, and I heard the door close again.

_That was quick. Maybe they were just scolding them,_ I thought to myself.

"Screw off, you sick bastards!" I heard Ssundee yell. "You wouldn't have the guts to do that to us!"

The door opened again and I heard the garbled language of The Squids. Something about sending them to an early grave.

"Yeah! I said that! What are you gonna do about it? Huh?"

I heard a sword hit the stone ground. A few taunting laughs. Then a frustrated yell from a guard.

"OH! That was pitiful! How did they recruit you?" Seto asked.

PBG followed up: "Oh my Notch! Even McJones is a better fighter than you! And that's saying a lot!"

The sounds of a sword hitting something with a wet _CRUNCH!_ traveled through the air. Ssundee screamed in pain, and the other two followed. Moans and cries of pain echoed violently, and I had to cover my mouth to keep from screaming. Footsteps followed, then three dragging sounds, then a door slamming shut.

_Um... Hello?_ I wanted to call.

I walked over to the hole in the cell wall and looked through a crack in between the bed. I saw nothing. Not Seto, or PBG, or Ssundee.

_They took them!_ my mind screamed.

I shoved the bed from the wall and walked into the cell again. The door was firmly closed, and the only indication that my friends were inside of the cell was the shreds of clothing that remained on the ground. Blood was splattered all over the ground, and the walls, and even the ceiling (Don't ask me how).

I dashed to the door and pressed against it, but like I said before, it was firmly shut.

I felt a pang of emotion stab through me. My eyes began to water, and I backed away slowly from the door. I was alone. The last of my friends that I knew were alive were gone.

Maybe for good.

I collapsed against the wall, sliding into a sitting position and hugging my knees. The loneliness was setting in quick. I buried my head in my knees and began to tremble. Oh Notch, it was painful enough to know that Sky was possibly dead, or captured. But three of my friends suddenly taken from my grasp? I broke down completely. I wanted to scream. To break out of the prison and snap Derpollous' neck for what he's done to me.

I heard a Squidlantian guard pass the cell, singing to himself as in his language: _Ezam eht ni syad rof syalp Mit-Mit...!_

My thoughts paused for a second. Something was wrong. I looked up from my knees, but nothing was out of the... erm... "ordinary." It was just as it was earlier.

If nothing was wrong, then what was it?

I felt a sharp kick from my stomach. I groaned and hugged my stomach. It was more painful than usual. Maybe it was the baby's way of saying: _Don't be a cry-baby-bitch! You're Dawn! Sky Army general! A fucking awesome woman that shouldn't cry!_

I wanted to believe that, but I felt another kick. It was more painful than the last one. It was there that I realized something...

It wasn't a kick.

* * *

Luna POV—

I lay on the bed, keeping my eyes closed as I listened to the fight going on around me. I had dropped out of the argument I was having with Sierra and Kate, letting them finish it off. Polska and Zhubox were trying to smash each others brains out. As far as I knew, Del was crying on the floor.

I sighed and rubbed my broken leg. The Squids were nice enough to help me onto the bed. I had to be thankful to them for that. But they couldn't have, oh I don't know, offered to give me a healing potion or a painkiller or something? But then again, it was The Squids. We would be lucky enough if they just gave us a moldy, stale piece of bread that was lying in a chest full of cockroaches for food.

My chains cut into my skin as I rubbed my leg, and I stopped. There was no use in getting an infection from the rust while we were trapped in here. The fights gave no indication that they were going to stop. Which meant I wasn't going to be able to sleep for a while. But no matter. I was used to not getting enough sleep.

Because, you know. I'm a fucking child of Notch. Hated by every monster in Minecraft.

Del managed to inch over to the bed I was lying on and plop down beside me. I smiled. "Welcome to my... um... Refuge?"

Del laughed. "It's good to be here..." She glanced at Sierra and Kate, who were arguing right beside us. "...I think."

I sat up and sighed, my leg full of searing pain. I looked as Zhubox and Polska kept fighting. I felt a grin tug at my face. "Let's have some fun," I said to my sister. I cleared my throat and began to speak: "And welcome back to our newest fighting show: _Who's Brains Will Splatter First?_"

Del smiled.

I continued on, using my best announcer voice. "It looks like it's gonna be an entertaining Series Premier, folks! We have two fighters that are related to _each other!_ They are both the children of Notch, for Pete's sake! How about we take a look at the lucky fighters! Del?"

"Thanks, Luna!" my sister said, copying my announcer voice. "In this corner, weighing at Notch-knows-what pounds, is Polska! Usually using her weapon of choice—an enchanted bow—this is a little awkward for her! Using nothing but her stamina and her body weight is gonna be a little bit tough for her!" Del paused to hold back her own laughs. "But don't be fooled, folks! She's a fighter! And _what_ a fighter! Am I right, Luna?"

"Yes indeed, Del!" I answered back. "Now let's look at our next competitor: Zhubox! Also weighing in at an unknown weight, this man may be a perfect match for Polska! Usually using his weapon of choice—a diamond sword—this will be nothing unfamiliar to him! Sword fighters sometimes have to wrestle around to win their honor and battles, yes? But he lacks in a little bit of body weight, which may be unfortunate for him. But he is also a tough fighter, and nothing is gonna bring him down today!"

Del snickered, and I had to pause to not burst into a laughing fit.

I out my left ear to my left shoulder. "I am now going to call my special field correspondent, Del. Del, are you there?"

Del crawled over near where my two siblings were fighting. "Luna, we're here. We're live. Um... My observations show that these two competitors are trying to splatter each others brains out, as the name in our show implies..."

"Wow," I said. "That..." I held back a laugh. "...is a very good observation, Del. I was _never_ aware of that!"

"Luna," Del said from her position on the floor. "Thank you. And whatever you do today... please, pretty please... go fuck yourself. Delicious Cattle reporting."

"Thanks, Del!" I said. "That was gre—!" I finally broke into fits of laughter. Del sat next to me and laughed with me. It was all to much to hold in. "That was even better than the time we had in the Aether!"

The fighting continued around us, but for now, we were in our own little bubble of hilarious stunts and laughter. Nothing else existed. Once our fits of tears and laughs faded, we sat, trying not to double over and fall on the floor.

I finally looked at Del. "But, seriously, why can't we just all get along for one day? We're captured by The Squids, and we can't even sit in silence at the least?"

She shrugged. "Pssh. It isn't like this isn't normal for us."

My anger started to boil over. This wasn't normal for us! This was just hatred for something none of us did! We were all blaming each other over something that we just let get past us! And we were _blaming each other _over it!

I glared at her, trying not to explode like the others. "This isn't normal. We can't even make a plan to raid the blacksmith back at Sky Army without arguing. But when we need to make a plan to escape from The Squids, we do it without raising a finger. Why aren't we doing that now?"

Del shook her head. "I don't know, Luna. I just don't know."

* * *

**And there we go! I will say, I am _very _excited about what the outcomes of the Easter Egg Hunt might be! Remember, the reward will be a sneak peek at my new _personal _Youtube channel! If you have an account, I will be able to PM you the link (As soon as it is running), but if you don't have an account and you're the winner, please provide a possible way I can send you a link to the channel in your review!**

**Anyways, a final salute and be sure to favorite and follow if you enjoyed, and I will see you next time!**

**So tell me, Awesomer Army Members: Are you aware that the bird is the word?**

**-The Awesomer**


	15. Chapter 15: Welcome to the Annual HGs!

**A salute to the Awesomer Army Members, Sky Army Recruits, and Faithful Readers! I have some news for you!**

**Unfortunately, no one won the Easter Egg Hunt. But I can't say that some of you got close (Cough cough Ms. Minecraft cough cough ). So, I will identify ALL of the Easter Eggs in the previous chapter:**

**For Pewdiepie: Noah screams: "Jeauvlaur! I hate jump scares!"**

**For Ray William Johnson: The entire news-report-thingy that Del and Luna did in their cell. Specifically: "Thank you. And whatever you do today... please, pretty please... go fuck yourself. Delicious Cattle reporting."**

**For Tobuscus: A Squidlantian guard passes Dawn's cell singing "Tim-Tim plays for days in the maze" backwards.**

**For Smosh: Dawn has a small idea in her brain that includes shouting the phrase: "Fuck you, Barbershop Pole!" Ian's biggest enemy.**

**And, the only Easter Egg that no one found (I'll be honest, I don't like this channel as much, but I didn't really have any other YouTube channels I wanted to include), EpicMealTime: Gabuscus had a pair of sunglasses on, and Minion calls him "Muscles-Glasses," a former YouTuber on the show.**

**So, there you have it! Those were all the Easter Eggs! I want to congratulate Ms. Minecraft, the closest person to get all the Easter Eggs, however, I will not reward her. Instead, I will give you all a second chance! This time, the Easter Eggs will revolve around Skydoesminecraft****—**

_**Whoa! But The Awesomer! This story is about Skydoesminecraft!**_

**Yes, but I'm talking about his videos. To be more specific, his Mod Showcases. I am going to put in five quotes from five of his showcases, and whoever can find them all, will get the prize: A sneak peek at my new YouTube channel!**

**Now, here are the videos they are going to be from:**

**"Skycraft"**

**"Throwable Bricks"**

**"Doggy Tricks"**

**"You Are Herobrine"**

**and "Bear Grylls."**

**So there you have it! I wish you all luck on our new Easter Egg Hunt, and happy hunting!**

* * *

Sky POV—

"Alright, you sick son of a bitch! Get up!" A Squidlantian prodded me with his sword.

I struggled, leaning against the cage walls to pull myself up. I watched as my friends stayed in their cages, but were wheeled away. We were close to the ocean, the sound of water crashing against the rocks. I felt the salty air sting my eyes and my wounds, but I enjoyed it all the same. But, the mist started to make the bottom of my cage wet, and I slipped.

"Ow..." I groaned.

"Get. Up." The same Squid poked me, hard enough to draw blood. "Or should I kill you on the spot?"

I struggled to my feet and growled. "It's hard enough to stand up without using your hands," I hissed. "Let me go, and I might spare you the pain later."

The second guard laughed. "Not likely. Now _move!_"

I jumped from my cage and landed in the soft sand, the sun reflecting off from the sea. I blinked out the salt from my eyes and began walking, the Squids behind me with weapons that would skewer me in a second. I couldn't help but wonder what was happening to Dawn or the others. All the children of Notch were possibly dead. Seto, PBG, Bodil, and Ssundee were probably dead too. Athena and the others were probably in the End right now, figuring out a plan (Or trying not to get eaten by the Enderdragon. Which ever). As far as I knew, Ck, Vic, and Red Flare were still searching for the children of Notch...

Wait.

Where was Toby?

* * *

Toby POV—

_**Flashback**_—

_"Run, Gryphon!"_

_Gryphon is running with me right behind him. We are running from The Squids as they chase us at towering heights, but I fall off of my mount on Gryphon's back. Before he could stop so I can climb back on, I am telling him to keep going. Maybe he can get someone later on and help us..._

_I am screaming in fear as an explosion happens to my left. I am still running. I can't stop._

_Another explosion to my right. Behind me. Left. Right. Right. Left. Le_—

_BOOM! I'm flying through the air, my sword sailing out of my hands and landing in some rubble. I land on the ground, my back hitting a large piece of debris. My breath is gone, and I can't breath. Gryphon is barking somewhere distant, and more debris buries me..._

* * *

I felt something warm and soft against my body. My entire body was wracked with pain, and I let a moan escape my lips. I was injured. No doubt. Maybe Gabuscus and I were just doing some sword practice and he accidentally hit me over the head again. Yeah. That was it. He sometimes got carried away during sword fighting and hit me on the head.

Or he was mad at me. That also happens.

I kept my eyes shut. Talking from experience, sleep was the best cure. It was easier, required no focus, and you didn't have to worry about Mini-Minotaur pranks.

But something was different. I wasn't in my quarters. It was too cold. And I could smell something particular in the air. Ozone? And why was my bed bouncing around wildly?

I kept my eyes shut nonetheless. I had experienced something like this before as well. He had given me an exploding health potion (Don't ask me how he did it. I'm still trying to figure that out myself) and it was _too_ strong. It was a one-way ticket to the recovery dorms. The recovery dorms always smelled like this. But the smell was getting stronger. I took a deep inhale, immediately coughing due to the sharp scent hanging in the air. And what about the bouncing? I finally opened my eyes.

I was on Gryphon's back, his fur matted and covered in a layer of grim and rubble. He was running somewhere, with the scent of ozone was wafting somewhere from behind me, strong and growing stronger. I managed to turn my head to see the towering wall of flames behind us.

I tightened my grip on Gryphon's fur. The memory of falling off his back and getting buried under cobblestone and almost suffocating resurfaced, and I felt panic grip my entire body. "Run, Gryphon!"

I felt Gryphon start to run again, and I dug my nails into his fur tightly. Dang it. Why did Herobrine decide to shrink me? Why not just capture me or something different? At least I would still be big. I coughed, the smoke engulfing us both. The dark smog prevented me from breathing, or seeing, or doing anything really. Heck, I didn't know if we were still in The Audience HQ! I relied completely on Gryphon as he bounded Notch-knows-where.

"Keep going!" I sputtered. What remained of my vision was starting to dim.

I felt a searing hot pain travel up my leg. A flame had licked my calf and roasted it to a dark color. I screamed and dug my fingers even deeper into Gryphon's fur, enough to dig into his skin and draw blood. The crackling of the inferno drew closer and closer...

"WOOF!"

My eyes snapped open. Gryphon knelt to the ground and began to lick his paws, which were stained with blood and grim. I looked around. We were in the forest close to The Audience HQ, a dark screen of smoke rising above the treetops about 300 blocks away. I was covered in burns, dust, and blood. I lost my grip quickly and slid off of my dog's back, crumpling into a heap. I pulled myself back up and leaned against Gryphon's body.

"Gryphon?" I rasped, choking and coughing out a cloud of smoke.

My dog whimpered and nuzzled me. I patted his snout and laughed as he licked my head, making my hair stand up funny.

"Good boy," I whispered into his ear, a smile tugging at my lips. "You did good."

"Toby?"

I looked up and strained my vision against the bright sunlight. Five dark figures towered over me, looking down like I was just another bug on the ground (Which I felt like). Gryphon stood up and growled, his fur standing on end to make him look bigger. But my dog stumbled and collapsed on the ground, too weak to fight or even stand. I raised my fists, though I doubted that it would protect us both in any way. I was just a half-a-block tall man next to a tea-cup dog. What was that going to do against five _giants_? Either way, I wasn't going down without a fight, right?

One of the figures stooped to my level, and I braced myself for death, squeezing my eyes shut.

But nothing happened. I opened my eyes cautiously and looked up.

A sigh of relief and pure happiness escaped my lungs, and I plopped back onto the ground, leaning back onto Gryphon. "Hey guys. Long time no see."

"Just shut up and tell us how you... um... almost became a Mini Minotaur," iAngel laughed, stroking Gryphon on the head.

I smiled devilishly. "Well..."

_Pause for effect,_ I thought to myself.

"There I was! Fighting off three hundred Mini Minotaurs with only my fists, when—"

Bodil came into view. "It was Herobrine, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

* * *

Bodil POV—

After discovering what had happened to The Audience HQ, Sky Army HQ, and all the other main bases of our alliances, we were doing our best to try and find survivors or clues that might lead us to Sky or any of our other friends. In the mean time, to lighten up the mood, we were all telling jokes and things about ourselves.

Vic started off: "So, Toby. What's your dog's name?"

Our tiny friend's dog was trotting next to my feet. Might I mention that Toby was hitching a free ride on my shoulder?

He smiled. "His name is Bob. Bob. My dog's name is Bob."

Lightning crackled above us suddenly, and rain instantly began to pour down.

"Bob!" Ck sang. "Summoner Of Rain!"

We all laughed. "Naw. He's Gryphon. You don't want to mess with him either. He'll rip you to shreds."

We all put aside our conversation for a few minutes as we tried to run for shelter. We didn't want to look for our friends with a sickness because of the rain. After an hour, we eventually settled on a nearby cave, gathering whatever firewood we could find and starting a small blaze. We all huddled around the small flame, shivering and looking outside at the downpour. iAngel and I kept looking around at the cave feverishly. The last thing we wanted was to have another monster ambush launched on us. Both of us were nearly killed then.

We soon began to pick up on our conversation again, talking about our business.

Red Flare stared at Toby with intelligent eyes. "You are the leader of The Audience?"

He nodded. "Yep. Started from the bottom, and now I'm at the top... almost."

iAngel covered her head with her arms to block out the rain. "What happened? Do you know?"

Toby sniffled, as if he would cry. "The Squids decided to launch an attack. Everyone was murdered viciously... if they were lucky."

Vic cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

Toby wiped his eyes. "I don't wanna talk about it right now." He sat down and propped his head on his hands glumly, making Gryphon whimper in concern.

Ck steered the conversation away from The Audience, heading instead over to Sky and everybody else. "So, most of Sky Army and its alliances are gone, killed, kidnapped, or converting some of the Sky Army recruits to start working with The Squids. I'm telling you, their winning, and we can't do a thing about it."

"Thanks, Captain Positive," I muttered.

"I'm just being realistic here. We can't just say: _Oh! We're totally winning the war!_ Because we're not," Ck replied to my comment. "Unless we have some genius idea that could at least break out our friends, then we can win this."

Red Flare nodded, leaning on one of the cave walls. "Our first priority: Find out where everyone else is."

I shrugged, almost making Toby fall off of my arm. "Easy: Squid Army HQ."

"Not quite," Vic said. "Not all of them are captured. Some are running, others are still fighting. A few are even in a different dimension than us."

iAngel timidly raised a hand. "Um, and _how_ would you know that much?"

Our scientist friend grinned as he pulled a small flashing object from his pocket. It kept flashing a tiny red light that could have been lost easily if I were only one block farther than Vic. "I made all of you swallow these a while back."

I nearly vomited. _"How?"_

"Find out yourselves."

Might I add that this was the last time we ever let Vic cook us food.

Red Flare shook his head in recovery. "Well, what are we waiting for exactly? Can't we just find them all and gather up the troops?"

"No," Vic answered simply. "It's not that easy. First off, we don't know what kind of security they have at their main base. They may have Killer Mustard Gas. They may just pelt us with stones until we retreat. They may even be hunting us down right now. So, all we need to do is figure out what their plan is, and then break them out."

Toby shrugged. "Easy enough."

iAngel nodded. "Yeah. I can communicate with my brothers and sisters. Maybe they can give me some info."

Gryphon yipped excitedly.

I shrugged. "Worth a shot."

Vic sighed in annoyance and pinched the bridge of his nose.

* * *

Seto POV—

I sat up in the silver cage that The Squids wheeled us away in, dazed and sleepy. My head throbbed in pain as I realized that I was lying in a pool of my own blood. Ssundee and PBG were in the same condition as me, bloody and just waking up from a forced nap. The halls that our cage was being pulled through were dark and gloomy, made from cracked cobblestone and splattered with both human, animal, monster, and Squid blood. I shuddered.

PBG coughed. "Oh crap."

Ssundee fixed his sunglasses. "Where's Dawn?"

I shrugged sheepishly. "I don't care where she is. I just hope she's okay."

"I agree," PBG said, leaning against the cage bars. "Where are we going?"

"How am I supposed to know?" I answered, rubbing my head. I cringed as I realized that my arm was criss-crossed by a dark purple line near my elbow. Was my arm fractured? "Let's hope it's not bad."

Ssundee wiped a mixture of blood and sweat from his face. "Don't get your hopes up." He closed his eyes behind his sunglasses and coughed weakly. "But maybe it's a place filled with rainbows and budder-unicorns..."

Our cage halted to a stop, nearly throwing me forward. A Squidlantian guard opened the door and held a spear in our directions. "Get out here and get in your stations."

_Stations?_

I followed directions and followed another Squidlantian guard to a tiny 1x2 hole in the wall. He shoved me in violently and slammed a iron gate shut behind me. I touched the walls experimentally and looked up above my head, only to see an empty hole that went on forever. What was this? A punishment? Maybe they caught us hiding Dawn in our cell and this was our punishment? It seemed like a mild punishment for harboring a kidnapped woman, especially since we were talking about The Squids.

I heard an electric buzzer sound, and I felt the ground shift beneath me. It was an elevator! I was being lifted up somewhere! But where?

A light blinded me as I reached my destination. I was standing on a wooden pressure plate that was surrounded by TNT. There were dozens of other people on similar plates in a lopsided circle, surrounding a raised pedestal that held about ten chests. Just outside the perimeter of rigged pressure plates was a lush rainforest full of... monstrous moans and roars. PBG and Ssundee were both one pressure plate away from me on my left and right, frozen in fear and shock. I looked around at the people.

Holy shit! All of them were from Sky Army!

A monotone voice rolled over the area: "Welcome the first Hunger Games in the Squid Army HQ!"

It occurred to me only three seconds later. We were forced tributes in the Hunger Games, for The Squids' entertainment. I tried my best to stay calm though, taking deep breaths and reminding myself how many Hunger Games I had won when we played back at the Sky Army HQ for fun.

Wait... How many times _did_ I win the Hunger Games?

My brain reeled at a million miles an hour as I looked around. Okay, there were about thirty tributes, six more than usual. None of the tributes names came to me, but I recognized a few from teaching the Sky Army a few spells of magic and such. Most of them were awesome with shadow-orb spells...

_What about the Cornucopia?_

I looked at the chests in the center of the ring, all of them holding something of use to the tributes. It could be food, or weapons, or armor, or even just a fishing-pole. Whatever they contained, it would help in the slaughter of Sky Army recruits in the name of entertainment.

Sick, sick, horrible entertainment.

"What the fuck!" Ssundee screamed, finally unfreezing and turning to stare at me. "We're fucked!"

"Seto? Ssundee? It was nice knowing you!" PBG yelled to us both.

I raised my hands as the monotone voice began to announce the rules. "No one is gonna die, okay! All of us are going to make it out alive! No one is going to kill anyone! Got it?"

My two friends nodded, but no one else seemed to hear me. The voice began the countdown from 30. I had thirty seconds before Sky Army recruits made a major dash for the precious things in the center. Then the bloodbath would begin, and there was nothing we could do about. Heck, I could tell that some of the Sky Army recruits were going to use magic. Whatever it took to survive.

Even if it meant going against the Sky Army generals to live one more second.

I looked at PBG. "Okay. As soon as they let us begin, we are going to run to the forest. No supplies. Just run." I looked at Ssundee. "Got it?"

PBG coughed. "Um, why can't we step off now?" He began to move his foot.

PBG was quickly answered as a Sky Army recruit about several pressure plates away screamed and leaped from her plate, the explosion echoing through the rainforest. Blood and bits of flesh rained down upon every tribute that stood around. The women screamed as they shielded themselves from the gore.

One Sky Army recruit dead. 29 remaining.

"That's why!" I yelled.

"10... 9... 8... 7..." the voice droned.

I turned around carefully on my plate, ready to start sprinting for the forest. "Get ready!"

PBG was trembling with pure fear, following my lead and turning his direction towards the rain forest. Ssundee wiped the bits of flesh from his face and turned towards the rainforest as well. I listened carefully to the final countdown, hoping to hear the buzz of the pressure plates being deactivated at the same time so we could run without getting blow to bits, like the female recruit did only a few seconds ago.

"4... 3... 2... 1... Happy Hunger Games!"

A buzz from underneath my feet, and I took off running, pumping my arms as hard as I could to propel myself forward. PBG and Ssundee ran beside me, but no one else. All of them were going to grab whatever supplies would contain their lives and fight to live another day. All we had to rely on was our own wits. PBG would need to depend on Ssundee and I the most, since we had experience in the Hunger Games and survival.

Though, all three of us were experts in survival.

I heard an arrow whiz past my ear and stick itself in a tree not to far ahead of us. PBG yelped and began to run faster, breathing hard and trying not to lose his balance. Another arrow nearly hit me in the shoulder, but I had a good sense of hearing and raised my arm to let it pass through. "Come back!I just wanna eat your soul!" I heard someone yell behind us, and I prayed that they had run out of arrows.

Ssundee pointed to a nearby clearing. "Look! There's a building up ahead!"

PBG burst forth with speed and fear pumping through his veins. I did the same, hoping that no psychopathic Sky Army recruits were following closely behind us. We easily burst into the clearing and towards the building. It was small, to small to be considered a house. It was more of a shack that could barely fit four people. It was hidden in a blanket of vines and leaves, as if it had been there for a while. It looked vaguely familiar, but I had no time to figure out why.

PBG opened up the door and tried to wave us in. "Hurry up! They're almost here!"

I heard faint battle-cries somewhere in the distance, but I refused to look back. I pumped my arms faster as I burst forth into the shack. PBG slammed the door shut behind us and leaned all his weight against it. "Is there anyone coming?"

Ssundee looked out a small window to my left. "No. Not on this side."

I peeked through another window to my right, my eyes taking up our surroundings hungrily. "I see trees, I see rocks, I see boulders. But nothing else."

PBG relaxed, sliding down to the floor. "We're screwed, aren't we?"

"No," Ssundee answered. "We're not screwed... We're fucked!"

I shook my head. "Anyone who says something negative about this situation next, I will personally throw out to the tributes." I looked at a nearby chest. "Check what's in there."

PBG opened up the chest and peeked inside cautiously. "Um... three steaks, a leather tunic, a wooden sword, and... a block of glass."

Ssundee shoved PBG out of the way and reached into the chest. "Steak!" He shoved the first thing his greedy hands held into his mouth. "A little crunchy..."

I cringed. "What should Ssundee do today? I think... he'll eat some glass!"

"Nom nom nom!" PBG agreed.

Ssundee instantly spit out shards of glass from his mouth, each one covered in a thin layer of blood. "Ow! Ow! Disgusting! Ow!" He put a hand to his mouth and held back tears of pain. "Notch dammit!"

As much as I wanted to laugh, I couldn't bring myself to do it. There was just a heavy tension hanging in the air that none of us wanted to be a part of, but were forced to be a part of. What were we to do now?

Survive the night. I closed my eyes for a few minutes of rest.

But when I opened them, PBG and Ssundee were both calling my name, calling for me to lean against the door with them. Several angry voices were shrieking curses from outside, pounding on the door and screaming for us to come out and fight them.

I leaned against the door with my two friends. "We'll be okay..."

I saw an arrow break the window I was under only a few seconds earlier, a flame licking the shaft and spreading to the ground. "Fuck yo house! Yo house sucks!"

* * *

Viola POV—

My friend Felix hissed angrily and tackled himself against the iron door. "Let us out! We're on your side!" he lied.

I sat glumly on the floor, plucking my bowstring boredly. _Thrum... Thrum... Thrum..._ "We're not getting out, Felix. We're stuck here."

Felix shot a web at the door and pulled at the silk, trying to tear the door off it's hinges. "Then what? Go back into those... _fucking_ testing rooms?! I'm not going to fall that shit anymore! That shit got old, Viola! That shit got old!"

I sighed tapping my white fingers against my bony knee. I made a small beat and listened to the taps echo throughout our small cage. _Bum bum, ba-bum bum. Bum bum, ba-bum bum. Bum!_ "Yes, but what are we going to do? We're just a skeleton and a spider, and I don't even have the proper ammunition to kill _one_ Squidlantian. And besides, we don't know where we are!"

Our cage was placed in the middle of the wilderness in the dead of night, the crescent moon traveling sluggishly across the sky. Tall trees surrounded our small prison, glistening from the dew caused by a downpour from earlier. The vines swayed back and forth in the light breeze, only disturbed by the occasional monster passing through. The spongy ground underneath our cage was slowly swallowing our cage, the silver bars disappearing from sight slower than our eyes could register. A creeper walked past our cage, staring at us for a quick second, giving a short _hiss!_ then leaving.

Felix finally gave up and shot a web at the ceiling of the cage, crawling up the wall and resting on his new bed. "Guess you're right..."

"Of course I'm right. I've always been right, have I not?"

We both perked up as we hear a terrified scream come from the distance. A human scream cut off sharply by a wet _CRUNCH!_ and a quick explosion. A few endermen and creepers seemed to cheer in victory from where the scream was from.

"Another one gone," Felix commented. "How many humans are here?"

I shrugged, giving another bored pluck to my bow. "Let's hope that one will find us and set us free."

"I would drink to that, but I don't have anything to drink."

An enderman appeared next to the cage, croaking curiously as I looked at me. It held a redstone block in its hands, like it was a trophy it had earned in a fight. He offered it to me.

"No thanks," I declined. "I'm trying to quit."

The enderman teleported away, leaving the redstone block behind anyways. Felix tapped a leg against the cage ceiling. "It's pretty sturdy. I don't think we could break it even _with_ an arrow."

"No shit."

A fellow spider-jockey waddled past, making the normal hissing noises and a _click-clack_ of bones. They seemed to be chasing something, maybe another human. Oh well. Why should I care?

"You have any ideas?" Felix questioned.

"Even if I did, I doubt that it would work," I replied.

Silence.

"You sure?"

"Psht!" I plucked my bow again. "It would require a _lot_ of different materials and people."

_"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHH!"_

We both turned our head to where the spider-jockey had passed us earlier. Two monsters emerged from the forest, running and panting as the spider-jockey from before ran after them in a hot pursuit. One of them was an enderman, with a tattered white hood that sported a diamond pick in the front and a large emerald in the back. His jeans were torn and tattered up to the knees and covered in his own blood, yellow sneakers making a _flop-flop-flop_ as the soles hit the ground. This was no normal monster. The second monster was a creeper. The only thing was that showed he wasn't normal was the large dark _L_ on his chest as he ran alongside the "enderman."

The creeper saw us and ran straight towards our direction. "Help us! Please! We will repay you!"

I strummed my bowstring again. "This might be entertaining," I commented. But Felix wasn't listening.

"Unlock our cage and we'll help ya!" Felix yelled out, slamming his body against the iron doors. "Let us out!"

The enderman screamed as an arrow landed in his shoulder. "How can you talk!?"

"Why did your friend ask for help from two monsters?" I replied calmly. "Besides, aren't you two monsters too? Shouldn't you be able to beat down their asses?"

"Like that can happen!" the creeper yelled. "Blabid! You're the one with hands! Get them out!"

The enderman rolled his purple eyes and ran over to the iron doors. "Distract the bastards!"

The creeper stopped and danced in front of the spider-jockey. "Hey, Bone-Head! When was the last time you grew hair?"

The skeleton fired an arrow, but it went wide and passed him.

"And Hairy-Legs! There's this new thing called toothpaste! I think you can try some!"

The spider hissed and lunged for him as gracefully as a ocelot trying to swim. The creeper began to run in random directions just as the enderman bust open the iron doors. "Alright! Get the Nether out there and help us!"

I sighed and plopped angrily and boredly on Felix's back. "I hate you."

"At least we're free."

* * *

Athena POV—

I pat Eris her snout affectionately, watching as Ethan swiped the Eye of Ender from above her head. He pointed to the pile of obsidian only a few blocks away. _Now we build!_

Susan killed another enderman and harvested the enderpearl. "Fucking bastards these things are."

Ruby and Sapphire laughed as they harvested the Endstone from the ground and tossed it in Ethan's direction. "Go!"

Ray was shaking as she tried to approach Eris calmly, reaching out a trembling hand and touching the warm scales on her body. Eris turned her head, looking to see what was happening only to scare Ray. I laughed and patted my friend on the back. "Come on. She isn't gonna bite you... hard."

Ray nearly passed out, and I burst into laughter. "Calm down. It's just a joke. Here, just pet her and she won't hurt you."

"Later," she answered quickly and ran off to help build the portal. Ethan closed his eyes while holding the Eye of Ender and disappeared in a puff of dark matter. He appeared only a few minutes later, emptying his backpack of different blocks: Diamond, emerald, budder, red mushroom caps, and a few glowstone blocks.

I took a quick peek at the diagram Ethan made and scooped up the red mushroom caps. "We have to _eat_ these?"

He nodded.

I sighed. "Great." I replaced the block with an emerald block. "Ruby! Sapphire! Get yo butts over here!"

"But we're digging Endstone!" they protested.

"Ain't nobody got time for that!" I yelled. "Come one! You literally made a pile _a third_ as tall as these obsidian pillars!"

Susan screamed, and I saw her riding on the head of an enderman, steering it around as if it were a horse. "I'm finally at one with nature!"

I smiled and looked back at Ethan, who was trying to talk to Ray about the portal and the Enderdragon. I casually placed the emerald block on the ground, next to the glowstone, then diamond, budder, Endstone...

I paused. It was so... _quiet_ all of a sudden. Why?

I slowly turned. Every one of my friends, and all the monsters were frozen in time. Ethan and Ray stood stiff in front of the diagram, looking like they were arguing about something. Ruby and Sapphire were boosting each other out from the hole in the ground they had dug. Susan was frozen in mid-air as the enderman from under her had teleported away, leaving her to fall. Eris was rigid, her nose in the air as if sensing a presence.

I walked over to Ethan and waved my hand in front of his face. "Ethan?"

Nothing.

"Hello? Ray?" I poked her cheek.

There was no movement.

"Holy squid shit," I muttered. "I'm stuck in a time-frozen world."

I was just thinking of using this opportunity to my advantage by going to the Squid Army HQ to take my friends to the End and free them, when I blinked. My eyes quickly opened to see a man standing in front of me, anger and hatred burning in his eyes.

"Greetings, Athena," he growled.

I turned stiff. "Oh shit."

He had found me. Even after saving Sky, his sons and daughters, and all of Sky Army's alliances, he had not forgiven me. Notch himself was standing in front of me, anger burning deep inside of him and nothing to help me. Not even my powers could save me. I was—no doubt—going up Shit Creek without a boat.

I fell to my knees. "Please, my lord! I beg for your mercy! I aborted my plan! No one has become a hybrid! No Sky Army recruit or anyone from the alliances has become a hybrid!"

Notch did not soften. His expression remained rock hard.

I broke into tears. I was going to be killed painfully, and there was nothing that could save me. Not Eris. Not my powers. Not my friends. "I _beg_ of you! Please give me a chance! What can I do to be forgiven?"

Notch knelt next to me, looking into my eyes. "There is nothing you may do. I am afraid that this was meant to be your fate."

Something inside my mind clicked, and it began to whirl around like one of Seth Bling's redstone machines. I stopped crying, looking up at my creator. "My fate. You had _planned_ for this to happen to me?"

Notch looked taken aback. "Excuse me?"

I glared at him. "You _planned_ for me to be killed? You _planned_ for my life to take this course? You _planned _for my family to be killed? You_ planned _for my life to be miserable? You_ planned_ to make my life a living Nether Hole!?"

Notch tried to put a hand on my shoulder, but I slapped it away. "You planned for my life to be a long, miserable roller coaster! I am now trying to save your children, Sky, and anyone else that has their lives on the line, and you want to kill me!?"

"It is not like that, my child," Notch began. "It—"

"Then what is it? My sister was resurrected as a beast of legend because that is how you _planned_ it to be! If it is not like that, then what is it!?"

Notch paused.

* * *

_**It took longer than usual! That means you're a bad author! I'm going to un-favorite yo**_—

**Okay! Here's your fucking chapter!**

**I mean... you look amazing today... erm...**

**MAKESURETOFINDTHEFIVEHIDDENEASTEREGGSANDWHOEVERCAN FINDTHEMALLWILLGETAREWARDSOLEAVEAREVIEWANDIFYOUDON 'THAVE  
ANACCOUNTMAKESURETOLEAVESOMEABITOFINFORMATIONONHOW ICANCONTACTYOUBACK...  
**

**'Kay. That's all.**

**So, favorite and follow if you enjoyed! A final salute, and I will see you soon!**

**So, tell me, Awesomer Army Members: Did you win the Hunger Deans?**

**-The Awesomer**


	16. Chapter 16: Genius

MUDKIPZ POV—

I covered my mouth and started coughing out my lungs, my friends all stumbling through the fog that filled our rooms.

After being captured by The Squids, they began the long torture that would extract the information that they wanted from us. They particularly wanted to know where some of our missing recruits were hiding, or if we had any hidden backup. Honestly, we barely knew _that_ much information for ourselves, but they all insisted on it. The newest kind of torture technique was being placed in a maze with many intricate traps and turns. They had trapped only a few of my friends in the maze as well: McJones and Kyrak as far as I knew. But there were two more we were trying to find.

"This way!" McJones choked out.

I followed the sound of my friends coughing, stumbling into a random hall that was clear of the fog. "Did anyone breathe in that shit?" I asked quickly, praying to Notch that neither Kyrak or McJones did.

"No," Kyrak answered.

A few wisps of fog escaped McJones' lips. "Um... I don't think that was poisonous in any way."

Kyrak looked back into the cloud of smoke that was at my back. "Why?"

"It tastes like..." he paused, "a vaporized Awkward-Potion."

I smacked his lips. "Shit. They were fucking with us!"

Kyrak balled his fists and stomped the ground. "Fuckers!"

I sighed. "Well, we gotta keep going."

All three of us got over the initial shock of walking through something that wasn't even deadly and continued on. We all took a left at a fork in the path, feeling the walls with our hands for any traps. McJones saved me from stepping into a pit of creepers at one point, grabbing my arm and pulling me back before I walked blindly in. I saved Kyrak from taking a permanent nap on a bed of spikes that shot from the walls in a blink of an eye. Kyrak saved both of our sorry butts as he stopped us, scouted ahead, and narrowly slipped through a wall of flames that was activated by a hidden tripwire.

We all skirted around a pit of lava just as we heard the faint sound of footsteps, only quietly at first but obviously getting louder by the second. I paused, freezing just next to the edge of the lava.

"MUDKIPZ?" Kyrak asked.

"Shh!" I scolded, holding up a hand to hush him.

The footsteps became louder. The echos throughout the maze made it hard to figure out where they were coming from.

I pointed slowly, mouthing the words to my friends: _Someone's there._

_No!_ they both mouthed back. _Really?_ They both tilted their heads sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes. All three of us had been on the bitter side as soon as we realized that all three of us were trapped and probably not going to make it back alive. It was understandable in our situation, but it still wasn't very good for our group moral. I stalked towards the general direction of the footsteps, my breath turning into nothing but a whisper in the dark corridors. A faint gasping sound was suddenly heard, next was a loud _THUMP!_ A muffled cry reached my ears just before a loud rumbling sound echoed through the halls.

McJones clenched his jaw. _Another trap,_ he mouthed bitterly.

Kyrak nodded, cringing when we heard a wet crunch. _Did they get someone?_

_One of our friends?_ I asked.

We all shrugged, helpless to know what the trap was or if something happened.

_A Mini-Minotaur?_ McJones joked.

I stifled a laughed, but just in case, I pulled out my best weapon: A crudely made slingshot that could fire scattered rubble from the maze walls and ceiling. Kyrak and McJones both took a step back, waving their hands away from themselves and towards me. It was an unmistakable gesture: _Go ahead. We'll wait here like scared babies._

I rolled my eyes again and loaded my slingshot, pressing myself against the wall and slowly sliding towards the fork in the path. Rumbling voices were easily heard, speaking in The Squid's language:

"Your flesh shall be delightful to feast upon. Though, I did not prefer to start with your flesh, you will have to hold me off until I find the morsel I am searching for," the voice cackled.

A raspy voice cursed something I couldn't pick up, but it was followed by rumbling laughter. "You are interesting to go with one last act of bravery. I respect that. However, it will not be enough. It is time to die, Minion."_  
_

Minion?

"Let go of me, bitch!" a strained voice squeaked. "Why should you be killing me if you're looking for someone else to eat? I'll help you find them!"

It was Minion! He was one of the other two people trapped in the maze with Kyrak, McJones, and I. As much as I wanted to run over and help my friend, I tightened my muscles to keep me from going over. I couldn't just burst into the hall that he in (By now I had found out that it was coming from the hall farthest to my left). I would get us all killed.

Dammit.

"Ah! Minion! You're shit, fuck, out of luck! Time to die!" the rumbling voice shouted.

I couldn't take it. I walked into the hall, raising the slingshot towards a wall of darkness and shooting blindly. The bit of debris I shot ricocheted off the darkness itself and hit my cheek, drawing blood. "Fuck with my friend, you fuck with me."

The darkness shifted, revealing blood red eyes that glared at me hungrily. "Ah! MUDKIPZ! You were the morsel I was praying to be able to indulge in!"

I loaded another pebble, pulling back the rubber band and aiming at one of the eyes. "Lucky me," I muttered. I sneaked a glance behind the thing, seeing a crumpled heap wearing a red T-shirt on the ground, trembling in nothing but fear as he stared at me through a swollen face. He looked like he had lost a fight, badly. He was cradling one of his arms protectively, like he had broken it or something. His clothes were tattered and shredded, with blood splashed over every spot. Rocks and pebbles were embedded in his skin, making his face bloody and gaunt. His skin smoked, as if he took a swim in lava. His eyes were almost swollen shut.

"Holy shit, MUDKIPZ!" Minion yelled. "What are you doing?"

"Shut up, Minion," I hissed. I turned my attention back to the wall of darkness. "What can I do with your body when I kill you?"

"I will not be defeated by the former general of the Sky Army. Now, you die!"

The eyes closed and the darkness shimmered. Minion traced his eyes along the halls, but I looked around blindly, unable to know where the thing went.

"Shit."

That was all I managed to utter out before something invisible slammed into me. I sailed through the hall, passing Kyrak and McJones and scaring them half to death. I landed in a different hall, gasping for breath as I gripped my slingshot. The wall of darkness hit me in the chest, and I tumbled through the air again, losing my grip on my only weapon. I slammed against a wall, cracking the cobblestone walls and hitting the ground with a sickening _CRUNCH!_ I cried out when I felt the sharp pain in my chest.

Two blood red eyes appeared in front of me, followed by a large smile filled with green teeth. _Weak. I expected a little more fighting spirit from you._

I stood, clutching an arm over my chest to lessen the pain. "Fuck you."

"Not a very good choice of words. I know what the next trap will be down the hall. I will make you figure out the hard way!" the thing screamed.

He slammed me farther down the hall, my body tumbling through the air and landing on a tripwire. In a quick adrenaline rush, I leaped backwards just as a cloud of real poison filled the air.

_Gotta run!_ my mind shrieked at me. I stumbled away from the poison, hoping that it would be enough to hold the beast off. _Find your friends later, but for now, lead that thing away from them!_

"You can run, but you can't hide!" the beast screamed. "I will find you!"

I coughed up blood as I ran. Stupid broken ribs.

"Would you like to play a game?"

"May I have the, er, _honor_ of knowing who you are first?" I spat back.

The thing laughed. "Very well. I am Skatofasta! The beast of this maze!"

I rolled the name through my head, and burst into laughter. "Your name is _Skatofasta!?_ That's _Shit-Face_ in Greek!"

"It is not! It is a very honorable name!"

"No way! Even I wouldn't like to be named _Shit-Face_ in a different language!"

"_SILENCE!"_

I was slammed in the chest backwards yet again. My ribs were no longer broken. No. They were _shattered._ I landed with a thud next to a pool of lava, barely able to breathe through my caved in chest. "Fuck... fuck... fuck..." I kept whispering in fear.

"How shall I devour you? Raw, or cooked?" A dark, slimy hand grabbed my body and lifted me from the ground, towards the crimson red eyes and green teeth. "You shall choose."

I saw a quick flash of blue jeans and a black T-shirt, but it must have been my mind messing with me. "How about _you_ choose, Shit-Face."

"Watch it," Shit-Face growled. "I may change my mind about being merciful and kill you slowly."

Something crawled along the top of the ceiling, slowly and quietly. It was a man in a black T-shirt and blue jeans. The man turned his head to look down...

Markiplier! He was climbing along the ceiling just above Shit-Face. If he could just get above his head...

"I will have you cooked. It will be better for my health. It is time to fry you." Shit-Face began to lower me towards the lava pit, where I would go up in flames in less than a few seconds.

I yelped. "Wait! I have one last thing to say!"

Shit-Face stopped lowering me towards my doom. "What would that be?"

"Um..." I tried to think of something, watching Markiplier crawl above my capture's head. "Um... Where's the blacksmith?"

Shit-Face looked at me funny. "What?"

I felt a smile tug at the corner of my lips. "Where's the blacksmith?" I asked again, more loudly.

"I don't know what—"

"WHERE'S THE BLACKSMITH!? _WHERE'S THE BLACKSMITH!?"_ Markiplier shrieked from his ceiling perch, and he leaped onto Shit-Face's head, killing him instantly.

I crawled out of Shit-Face's hands with the help of Mark, breathing heavily in fear, pain, and relief. "Um... I expected him to die with a little more difficulty..." I commented.

"Yeah... Um..." Mark scratched his head awkwardly. "You need a budder apple?"

* * *

Sky POV—

A bright light penetrated my eyelids as a few guards opened my cell. I blinked out the light and did my best to glare at them with squinted eyes.

"Food," one of them said, throwing a rock-hard loaf of bread at my face as hard as they could. The door closed, and I was left alone.

After I was let out of my cage earlier, I was shoved into a lake. Just before I drowned, a few Squidlantians dragged me into an underwater base, shoved me into a dank prison cell that didn't even have an almost-burnt out torch, and never opened it unless it was for food and water. I was chained up like and animal, chained to the walls so that even if I chose to stand up, I still had restricted movement. Most of my friends were probably being tortured, killed, or still trying to find us. And as cruel as this may sound, I think it would be better if all of them were killed. At least they didn't have to be in pain.

_And, why are you thinking like that, Sky?_ Aether asked.

Geez. Even I agree that it's a little dark.

I was caught off guard. Neither Aether nor Nether had spoken since we were captured. And I was even more caught off guard to find them agreeing with each other. That was pretty rare. "I know, but it's better than being tortured."

_Still..._ Aether started.

Really? Nether finished.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine! I take it back!"

I really didn't.

The two voices in my head went silent, and I was back to being alone. I leaned heavily against the corner, trying not to think about any of my friends for the sake of my sanity.

_And Dawn?_ Aether asked.

Nether remained silent, which was even a bigger shock.

I nearly burst into tears. In a quiet whisper, I simply replied: "She's probably dead."

_No,_ Aether answered. _She's still alive. She's actually in the cell next to you._

"And how would you know that?" I asked.

_I can talk to her. You two have such a special connection that I can switch between your minds._

"Cool," I said. "Now stop lying to make me feel better and tell me what really happened to her."

_No, I'm serious. _Aether sounded as sincere as he could sound. _Can you move your hands?_

I didn't answer, nor did I want to move my hands. There was no way Dawn was in the cell next to me. Aether was just making me feel better. I truly appreciated the gesture, but it only hurt me.

_Alright. I'm out of ideas. Nether. It's your turn to try to cheer him up._

'Kay.

There was a tense silence.

DAWN IS IN THE NEXT CELL! USE MORSE CODE TO COMMUNICATE WITH HER!

That, officially, was the scariest voice I had ever heard in my life.

"Fuck," I whispered, before my hands took their own control, and knocked on the wall next to me.

But, to my great surprise, there was a response.

* * *

Toby POV—

iAngel nodded and opened her eyes, a frown on her face. "Sierra says that they're in high security, chained up and constantly guarded. That _has_ to be triple for everyone else."

I crossed my arms, leaning against Bodil's head and sighed. "Any _good_ news?"

"Um... Let's see... no." iAngel leaned against the cave wall and looked outside at the rain. "Any ideas?"

Gryphon barked, but unless it was an idea in dog-language, then it was useless.

Red Flare fiddled with his knife. "Is there anyone who isn't captured?"

iAngel nodded. "But it would take to long to find them. They're in the End."

Vic snapped his fingers. "Athena! Of course!"

"You know who it is?" Ck asked.

"Of course! What do you expect! Athena's a hybrid! She could get anywhere if she wanted to!" Vic answered, cackling excitedly. "If we can communicate with her...!"

No one finished the thought. As hopeful as if sounded, it wouldn't work.

"Um... what about Blabid and Lignite? Can't they just teleport over here or something?" Bodil suggested.

"Nope," iAngel replied. "Special magic. I can sense even from here."

"Damn." I stomped my foot on Bodil's shoulder, which made him yelp in pain. "What _can_ we do?"

iAngel shrugged. "Um... how about we just find a way in and break a few people out?"

Everyone shrugged. "Better than anything else. Like maybe sending a message over to Snapp and Chance to tell them to disguise themselves as Squids then pretend that a few prisoners jumped them and the fake prisoners were escaping as a distraction so that Snapp and Chance can break into some of the other prison cells and free a few of our friends so that they can disguise themselves as Squids and free everyone else so they can kill Derpollous," Ck said without taking a breath. "But, ya know, that's a good plan too."

Everyone stared at Ck in disbelief. He gave us a large devilish grin. "I'ma genius."

I dug through my backpack quickly, pulling out a instant-message paper. "Our ticket to salvation! Woo-hoo!"

* * *

Snapp POV—

"Ow! Ow! Ow-ow!"

I watched the arrows I fired pierce through several tributes leather armor, falling to the ground in pain as they died.

I was in the Hunger Games, made by The Squids. Luckily, the tributes were traitors to The Squids, so it was easier to kill them. Chance was at my back, chopping the head off of another Squid. "Okay. We looting them?"

I nodded. "Whadda they got?"

"Um..." Chance began picking through one of the dead Squid's backpacks. "Two raw beef, some arrows, three iron ingots, two sticks, and... a diamond."

I pulled the pack from another dead Squid. "Half a raw chicken, a stone sword, two budder ingots, and three diamonds." I stuffed the supplies into my pack. "Good. We have enough for two diamond swords."

Chance morphed into a creeper in a tuxedo, then a wolf in a prison jumpsuit. "Head back to camp?" he asked.

"Yep."

We began to walk north, keeping our weapons ready and in case for another ambush. The Hunger Games weren't as bad for us, since we had been in a couple back at the Sky Army HQ, so we knew what we had to do to survive. We scrounged, mined, hunted, killed, and moved as much as we could. As far as I could count, we had already killed 48 Squid tributes, but The Squids wouldn't stop sending other Squids out until we were both dead. As for now, we just had to survive until we found a way to escape or were rescued.

"Ah! Hut-Sweet-Hut!" I joked.

Our small wooden hut appeared into view, just hidden by a few trees and saplings. We had made the tiny home base until we could find a more suitable base. It got the job done, though. We stayed dry. We could sleep safely. Plus it was pretty sturdy. Not bad for a wooden hut.

"Snapp. How about you make the swords. I'll get the food cooking," Chance suggested.

"Got it."

My shape-shifting friend passed me the diamond and two sticks he found. I gave him the chicken, and we went to work. Pulling out my stone pickaxe, I began to hammer the four diamonds we found into two blades, hammering the two sticks into the bottom of the blades and covering them in a thin layer of diamond. Just like Sparklez taught us.

"Billy!" Chance said in a high pitch voice. "Dinner time!"

"Oh boy!" I said in a child-like voice. "Rations from killed tributes! My favorite!"

Chance morphed into football gear. "Go long!" He tossed me a steak like a football. I caught the much-needed food and took a bite. Crispy on the outside, and still a little pink on the inside.

"Huh," I grunted, sitting on a chest. "Just like old times, huh?"

Chance laughed. "Back in the Alternate Army HQ, when we were trapped in the Nether with the rest of our Donuts."

I laughed. "Except then, we had to survive on rotten flesh and stolen food from Herobrine's palace."

"Can you believe that we could actually do that without getting caught?" Chance asked.

"I was so fucking surprised when we can back alive the first time we tried!"

We finished our meal and began to talk about before we became a part of the Sky Army HQ. It brought back some pretty good memories and jokes. Honestly, I kind of missed when we lived there. I wondered if our small hut was still there.

"_RAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"_

We both rolled our eyes. "Again? Can't they just let us socialize for a couple minutes?"

Chance grabbed the new diamond swords and passed one to me. "We may have to get used to it for a while."

In a few seconds, we charged out of our small hut to face the Squid onslaught running towards us. There were only two dozen, which we dealt with pretty easily. Actually, it only took twenty seconds. We scrounged up the next round of supplies: A steak, four raw beef, six cooked chicken, seven budder ingots, ten iron, and pork chop.

"Nice," I commented.

"This will keep us alive for the next week if we're lucky," Chance agreed, his figure shifting to look like he was made completely out of smooth stone. "Should we lay down a few traps?"

"Unless we got some creepers or a TNT, it's not gonna happen for a while," I answered. "But we can probably rig a few death pits into a pool of lava."

We both walked back into the huts, making sure to kick the bodies of the Squid onslaught into a nearby river. The sun was setting, and we knew that The Squids would be sending out a bunch of monsters. We had to get ready for the night. It was my turn to take nightly watch. Usually, some curious monster would stray to close to our hut, and one of us would have to take it out quickly. But we left the stray creepers alone. We weren't gonna take chances.

"Ya need to borrow my bow, go ahead," Chance told me.

I nodded and sat down next to a window, holding my sword that the ready. "See tomorrow, man."

"Ditto."

And so began the night.

* * *

It was about thirteen minutes later that the first zombie arrived.

Night watch wasn't so bad. The air was warm, the moon and stars were always out to make pictures out of, and there weren't that many monsters out in the middle of the night. The usual amount of stray monsters that came close to our hut was around twelve. That made night watch no trouble at all.

Then, there was the paper.

I had just finished off my fourth zombie when I saw a paper plane hurtling towards my head at the speed of light. I barely had time to open my mouth to yelp when it hit me in the face. I hit the ground, dropping my sword and feeling blood run down my cheek.

"Ow."

I picked up the paper and rolled my eyes. Probably just another message from The Squids. They had started to do this a lot, sending us threats and coordinates to traps. Nothing we couldn't handle. I opened the paper plane and read the writing:

_Snapp and Chance_—

_We are not too far from The Squid Army HQ. Need your help to break in/kill Derpollous:_

_Chance must disguise himself as a Squidlantian and free a few prisoners. The prisoners need to free other prisoners, which will eventually overpower Derpollous and his army._

_Hurry. Not much time. Send back if possible._

_—Toby, Bodil, iAngel, Vic, Red Flare, and Ck_

I stared at the scraggly writing. It was legit. This was our ticket from this "Hunger Games" that The Squids created. This could save Sky Army!

I didn't even bother being quiet. I burst into the small hut. "Chance! Chance!"

* * *

Seto POV—

"DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!"

That was what the former Sky Army recruits kept chanting as they tried to kill us inside our small hut.

"DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!"

Ssundee and PBG were both weakening in strength as they leaned all their body weight against the small door that was keeping us from being slaughtered. We weren't going to last longer. It was too obvious.

"Fuck!" I shouted towards the sky. "It was nice knowing you guys."

"Can't you just shadow-ball them to shit or something?" Ssundee yelled.

"It takes too long!" I replied, grinding at my teeth angrily as another flaming arrow passed through our broken window. "Why are you doing this!?" I screamed outside to the Sky Army recruits.

"DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!"

PBG was now muttering a prayer to Notch, hoping that we would receive a fair last judgement. I wanted to run, hide, fight until I fell to the dirt. I wanted to do what I was trained to do. But I couldn't. I couldn't just start to murder Sky Army recruits just for my survival. _Recruits first; yourself later._

I saw the flames from the arrows begin to lick at the walls, engulfing the vines and leaves on the ground as all three of us just stared. We had two choices: Burn, or run outside and be killed by our own recruits.

Wow. Such amazing decisions to choose from.

"Well, I don't have any ideas," I growled. "Ssundee?"

Ssundee's eyes sparkled like he was going to cry. "N—No..."

"PBG?" I asked.

"Um..." Our friend thought. "How about we just accept our fate?" he suggested.

Good enough.

"ENDERMAN!" a female recruit shrieked at the top of her lungs. "IT HAS A CREEPER!"

"SPIDER-JOCKEY!" a male shouted. "EVERYONE RUN!"

The pounding on the door stopped. No one fired a flaming arrow into our hut. Everything was dead quite.

Then, a creeper poked his head into the window. "Hallow?" he said in a fake British accent. "What the bloody-Nether are you doing in this burning building?"

I supressed a smug smile. "Well, well, well. If it isn't our favorite creeper: Lignite."

"And his even more famous chauffeur!" Blabid waved in the backround. "And some help from a familiar duo of monsters!"

"Hey! What about us?!"

I leaned my head forward a little more to see Marz and Noah standing next to a spider-jockey, large grins covering their faces.

"Oh!" Ssundee said.

"Full house!" PBG finished.

* * *

**Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shorter than usual. Parts were rushed. Blah, blah, blah. I've been sick.**

**I have chickenpox. And to think that no one got that any more! I barely have enough energy to open the computer because of the fucking medicine. And when I do have enough energy, I waste most of my writing time scratching myself.**

***Itch-itch-itch* I hate it SO badly!**

**Anyways, make sure to favorite and follow if you enjoyed! A final salute, and I will see you soon!**

**So tell me, Awesomer Army Members: Let's just talk! You're good a negotiation, right?**

**-The Awesomer**


	17. Chapter 17: A Break-Through

**Quick A/N before we begin: Feeling better (Thanks for your support!), chapters _will_ be longer to come out (Look at bottom to find out why), there is a poll on my page that you should check out, and... Jerome won the Hunger Games.**

**Yay!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Sky POV—

I tapped furiously against the walls, morse code spilling out of my brain and going onto autopilot in my finger: "_Who are you!?"_

_"Dawn of the Sky Army."_

Holy shit, it's actually her, Nether noted. Oh my fuck.

I took a shaky breath. "_Really?_"

"_Yes._"

I felt a smile grow along my face. I had to remain calm. "_Baby. I'm here. I promised I would find you._"

There was a long pause before I heard a muffled squeal. "_Sky! Sky!_" she tapped back. "_I knew you would come! I knew_—!"

Dawn stopped tapping on her side of the wall. "_No... Don't tell me you were captured..._"

_Tell her the truth, Sky,_ Aether whispered. _She deserves to know._

"_I'm sorry,_" I finally tapped back. "_I'm so sorry._"

No more taps. I waited for three minutes, but nothing changed. It was only until I heard a muffled wail that I knew she was crying. I sighed and lowered my head. "Aether. Do you mind talking to her?"

_Give me a sec._.. _Um... Oh! Wait! I can do better!_

I waited patiently, listening to Dawn weeping in the next room. My own heart broke into pieces for her, and I lowered my head. What did I do? I was captured, possibly killing all my friends just to find her. And what did I do? I destroyed her from the inside-out. What kind of person was I?

_Aaaand..._ Aether spoke. _Now!_

A tingle ran up my spine, and I froze in place. I looked around in the room, but nothing happened. I became angry.

Aether. Wrong nerves, Nether said.

_Hold on! Give me another sec... aaand... wait... what the_—_! Ow! Fuck!_

A stinging sensation rippled up my body, and I held back a scream as my mobility returned. "Ow! What the fuck are you doing, Aether?"

_One more... and... boom!_

An explosion rang in my brain, followed by both Nether and Aether screaming. Oh shit! What the fuck! Son of a bitch! Aether! Move over!

_Why should I let YOU do_— _Oh! Oh! Nevermind. You should feel a little pinching pain in your temples, Sky. But that's normal. And... now!_

My head felt like a balloon as I slumped against the wall and to the floor. My eyes forced themselves shut and my entire body dissolved into nothing. I was back in the white void from a week ago, free to roam around without those fucking iron shackles on my wrists and ankles. About twenty blocks away sat a woman in a brown shawl and jeans. She was crying, her face hidden in her porcelain hands. Her hair hung tangled and limp by her ears, multicolored and dirty.

I dropped to my knees in void, staring at the woman who I knew by heart. "Dawn..."

Dawn stopped crying, looking up from her hands. Her bloodshot eyes twinkled with a happiness and mischief that I had come to love. She stood up and stared at me with equal disbelief. "Sky?"

There was a tense silence that hung in the air.

Dawn finally burst into a sprint, running towards me and tackling me with a bear hug and nearly smashing my ribs to dust. I coughed, wrapping my arms around her and squeezing her. "Good to see you too!"

Dawn simply whispered in my ear: "I love you."

Neither of us let go for two minutes. When we backed away from each other, our forms flickered. Aether appeared to my left, behind a console of cobblestone and redstone and appearing to be pulling several levers and pushing different buttons. _Shit! I'm losing a mental connection between you two! I can hold it off for a full minute before both of you wake up! Make it quick!_

I quickly stood up and took Dawn's hand. "I'm so sorry, baby. The Squids launched an ambush. There was nothing that we could do. Sky Army HQ was blown up with TNT. Everyone in the Audience HQ was viciously slaughtered. Skyhub was burned to a crisp right in front of Blabid and Lignite. And Alpha Base #1..."

Dawn wiped her eyes. "I don't care now. Are our friends alive?"

"A few as far as I know."

"Good. Then that's all that matters," she said with a smile. "Then... I guess The Squids are winning..."

I lowered my head, my body flickering again. "Yeah... but they haven't seen our full potential yet."

Nether appeared to our right, a large smile on his face. If it makes you feel better, Sky and the others kicked some major ass.

Dawn laughed, smiling sweetly at Nether. "It does make me feel better. Thank you."

Nether blushed, lowering his head. Heh... heh...

_Nether! A little help!_ Aether blew away a few orange sparks from a button. _Thirty seconds!_

Dawn look me in the eye. "I hate to say this, but we need to get out of here by any means necessary. We need to find our friends and get the fuck out of here. Is there anything you can do in your cell?"

I shook my head. "I'm chained to a wall. I can barely move around."

Dawn cursed. "Okay then. Aether!"

Aether looked up from his console of levers and buttons in a quick second. _What?_

"Can you connect Sky to talk with anyone else? We need to talk with a few of our friends."

_No prob_— _Ah, shit!_ Aether scrambled back from a tiny explosion. _Ten seconds!_

Dawn looked at me. "Talk to them. Figure out where they are and if they can do something. We'll figure out the rest."

I nodded, watching as the void and my wife slowly began to fade back into my dank prison cell. I grabbed Dawn's face in my hands, and gave her my most confident smile. "I'll see you soon. I promise."

Dawn faded as Aether and Nether screamed in surprise. I snapped awake and sat up quickly. "Holyshitandwhatthefuckwasthat!?"

Woo-hoo! That was awesome! I heard some clapping in my brain. Let's do that again!

_How about "No?"_ Aether suggested. _I think we nearly killed ourselves._

Worth it!

A smile creeped across my face, my heart filling with a new hope. "Yeah. It was worth it."

Fuck yeah! Who's my best bud?

_I hope it's not me,_ Aether grumbled.

Heard that.

* * *

Ssundee POV—

Our small group of nine talked for a few minutes, catching up on our stories of what happened to ourselves and how we got here. None of it had anything that would lift our spirits in survival. Unless you counted that we were all together and okay. Then there _was_ something that lifted our spirits. But it didn't do much. We still had no idea how to escape this stupid Hunger Game. Blabid had told us that he couldn't teleport out of the barrier (Which was made from three layers of enchanted obsidian that only let in sunlight and moonlight). The Squids surrounded the arena in. Seto couldn't sense anything good, even using complicated magic. Things weren't particularly looking up for us.

Well, then there was the reality we were traveling with four friendly monsters.

We had the two obvious monsters, Blabid and Lignite. Then there was the spider-jockey that saved our lives several times. My memory was refreshed when the spider and the skeleton introduced themselves as the spider-jockey back at Alpha Base #1. The spider was named Felix, and he was pretty upbeat. He told us all jokes and tried to make us all act happy and feel good. Which actually worked. Despite the situation that all nine of us were in, we couldn't help but smile at least once.

There was the skeleton too: Viola. She was the more serious of the duo. She kept Felix from going too overboard with the jokes and was constantly on guard, not even talking to us unless it was asking for information or answering questions. I had to respect her in a... um... serious way?

Shut yo face!

"Anything we _can_ do?" I asked, crossing my arms as we kept walking.

No one offered any bright ideas, only contributing to the silence that hung in the air.

PBG pointed to his right. "We can ask those two creepy guys."

All eyes turned to see a small wooden hut barely visible unless you focused carefully. Two men were stuffing weapons and supplies into small backpacks and talking urgently, as if on an important secret mission. One was in blue jeans, a grey T-shirt with bright green sleeves, and grey headphones with a mic. The second man was too hard to pin down on what he looked like. His own figure kept shifting and changing, like he couldn't decide what he wanted to look like.

All of us gasped. I was the first to react: "SNAPP! CHANCE!"

The two men looked up from their work, fear on their faces at first, then cheeriness. "Holy shit! Ssundee! Seto! PBG!"

"Wassup?" Marz shouted.

"Whatcha'll doin'?" Noah yelled, doing a perfect impression of Toby.

"Nether yeah! Wez gotz the kids of Herobrine, bitches!" Chance cheered, slinging his pack over his shoulder and running towards us, Snapp following close behind.

There was another few minutes of reunion and talk, all of us smiling and introducing each other and exchanging stories. And—again—despite the situation we all were in, we all had to laugh a few times.

"Dude! We were _constantly _being attacked by Squids!" Chance exclaimed.

"Freaking Sky Army _recruits_ tried to kill us!" Seto countered.

"Damn!"

"Ouch," Snapp agreed.

Marz wiped some sweat from her brow. "Where were you guys going in such a hurry."

Both of our friends' smiles melted. "Fuck!" Snapp and Chance burst into a sprint. "Gotta go!"

"Hey!" The two children of Herobrine gave a quick chase, literally sprinting at an inhuman speed and stepping directly in front of them. They both put out their hands and grabbed our two friends' shoulders. "Stop. Tell us where you're going."

All of us caught up, breathing hard as Snapp and Chance gave us the short version of the story: They received an emergency message from Toby, Bodil, iAngel, Ck, Red Flare, and Vic about disguising themselves as Squids then helping others escape from the prisons... minus the fact that they weren't in the prison cells.

Viola sighed, her jaw bone clacking against her skull. "_How_ exactly are you gonna get there?"

Chance took a breath to answer, then paused. "Um... er..."

Snapp raised a finger, but instantly lowered it. "Oh... never really thought of that."

Lignite panted. "How did you two freaking do that!?" he yelled at Noah and Marz. "That was awesome!"

The two siblings ignore the question. "Now. Let's figure out how we can communicate with the others, okay?" Marz suggested.

"Um... yeah. That's probably a good idea," Chance answered.

There was an awkward silence between all eleven of us. Only the sound of singing birds and the occasional cow reached our ears. There was no idea running through anyone's head, even if it was stupid or irrational. We were all stumped.

"Um... Nether portal, anyone?" Felix suggested.

"No!" the two children of Herobrine yelled. "We can't go back to the Nether! All of us _will_ be slaughtered!"

Viola shrugged. "A portal to the Aether, then?"

I shook my head. "We'll need glowstone, and that's in the Nether too."

Another minute of silence.

Lignite jumped up. "Blabid! Teleport to the End! Maybe you can get some help from the local endermen!"

"Yeah-no. I may be a species of enderman, but I'm not hostile. Hostile endermen attack non-hostile endermen."

PBG tapped his foot. "Talk to the other Sky Army recruits?"

"NO!" everyone screamed.

Noah snapped his fingers. "We attack the barrier until it shatters."

"Okay!" Snapp said excitedly, emphasizing the sarcasm in his voice. "It's going to be easy to break three fucking layers of enchanted obsidian!"

Marz coughed. "Um... Noah, Blabid, and I can teleport towards a weak spot in the barrier, try to break out."

Lignite shook his head. "I highly doubt that there will be a weak spot."

"I know," the 16-year-old girl said, hanging her head glumly.

"So... we're basically stuck here?" I asked.

Seto crossed his arms and bit his lip, nodding his head bitterly. "In that case, we can sum up our situation into one phrase: _Shit, fuck, out of luck._"

"Agreed," Blabid muttered bitterly.

A long, _long_ silence.

Then there was the nausea.

My head felt incredibly light, like I drank a bad potion. Everyone moaned and fell to the ground writhing in pain, hugging their stomachs and curling into small balls. I followed their lead, trying not to throw up what little food I had in my stomach—which wasn't much. A nap sounded good about now, and my eyes closed.

* * *

I opened my eyes, looking around to see myself in a white void-like place along with the rest of my friends. Everyone looked around, confused and scared.

"Holy squid shit!" Noah yelled, pulling out his sword and motioning for Marz to stay behind him. Blabid stepped in front of Lignite protectively, ready to defend his best friend against whatever was about to happen. Seto and PBG both pulled out their bows and notched some explosive arrows. Chance and Snapp pulled out diamond swords and went back-to-back, ready to fight. I put a hand on my enchanted budder sword, only to realize something.

"Guys? How did we get our original weapons back?" I asked.

There was only a split second in between as everyone quickly yelped and dropped their non-existent weapons and kicked them far from each other. "Holy fuck! Where the Nether are we!?" Chance yelled, transforming into a solid water-blue color. "I wanna go back to the Hunger Games!"

"Guys! Can you hear me?"

I turned to see Sky, standing in the void. He was looking at us in tattered clothes and broken sunglasses, bloody and gaunt. Behind him were two people that looked exactly like him. One had red clothing like Sky's, and the second had clean white clothes like the second, like opposite twins. Both of them were behind a cobblestone console pulling various levers and buttons _like a boss._

"Wassup! Long time; no see!" Sky commented, walking over. "Hey! It's Viola and Felix!"

"S—Sky?" I stuttered.

Everyone burst into protests that we all were dead and this was the afterlife before we were judged to go to the Nether or the Aether. Sky quickly put a stop to the argument: "Hold it! I only have a short amount of time before we all wake up again. How long, Aether?"

Fake-Sky in the white clothing looked up from the console. _One minute exactly. Ow! Nether! Watch what you're pushing!_

Dammit! Start labeling these fucking buttons then! Fake-Sky in the red clothing retorted.

Sky looked at us. "By the way, meet Aether and Nether. They're a big help."

You know it! Fake-Sky in the red clothing yelled. I was guessing that was Nether.

"Okay. Listen. Where are you guys right now?" Sky asked.

Blabid and Lignite shrugged (If a creeper could shrug). "In an arena made for the Hunger Games. The Squids built the arena and sent probably a hundred recruits in to kill each other."

Sky cursed. "Can't you break the barrier like we sometimes do when we play the Hunger Games?"

"No," Marz answered. "Three layers of enchanted obsidian. I don't even know _how_ Noah and I broke in!"

"Okay..." Sky scratched his head. "Did you say that The Squids were watching?"

Seto nodded. "Yeah. I think almost every fucking Squid is watching us right now."

_Good! You guys can cause a distraction!_ Aether exclaimed. _Ow! Nether!_

Shut up! You guys have thirty seconds!

Sky turned back. "Good. You guys just keep doing what you're doing now, and I'll handle the rest. Got it?"

PBG stepped forward. "Aaand, _how_ are you going to handle the rest. I'm kinda guessing that you're chained to a wall in a tiny prison cell."

"How did you figure that out?" Sky asked.

"I just figured so, since, ya know, you're the mortal enemy of The Squids."

Chance morphed into a cow in a pirate costume. "So, basically our job is to do nothing but survive? And make sure that all The Squids are watching us?"

"Yes." Sky's body flickered, and he snapped his attention to Aether and Nether. "How much longer?"

_Ten seconds! Wrap it up!_

Everyone flickered like a torch. Sky turned back to us. "I'll communicate with the others, and we'll rescue you as soon as we can."

Shit! Everyone take cover!

All of my friends screamed and hit the dirt. An explosion rocked the void, and I snapped awake back in the arena with all my friends.

"FALLING!" Snapp yelped.

"TNT!" Viola shouted, notching her bow and firing an arrow in my direction.

Everyone regained consciousness and sat on the dirt ground, wondering what the fuck just happened. Why did we all have the same exact dream? Why did PBG unknowingly wet his pants? No one really knew.

I leaned against a nearby tree and sighed. "So, I guess we're all just gonna keep doing what we were doing earlier, eh?"

There were some half-hearted agreements, and so began the fight for survival, and the attention of The Squids.

* * *

Markiplier POV—

MUDKIPZ, Minion, McJones, Kyrak, and I all met up only a few minutes later. MUDKIPZ had a few shattered ribs, but nothing a budder apple couldn't heal. The maze all of us were in was a stupid entertainment factor that The Squids decided to make for all five of us, to see how we would survive and find each other. I learned from experience that there were _plenty _of deadly traps and monsters that were out to kill us. As far as we knew, there was no end that we would find so we could be free or receive a reward. It would just continue on until were all dead.

Oh, goodie!

Minion was a big help to the group, disassembling traps before we even saw them and telling us how to avoid certain paths so that we wouldn't go down the most deadly. It was smooth sailing with him.

Kyrak and McJones were also a big help, finding hidden food chests an weapons that The Squids decided to put in the maze. We weren't starving, but we weren't full either. The weapons they found were also pretty useful. We had managed to find enough arrows and bows and swords to last us a life-time.

MUDKIPZ acted like the leader. He usually took the lead and was the first to act whenever we were unfortunate enough to find a monster that wanted to kill us. He didn't seem like his usual joking self like back at the Sky Army HQ. This was the MUDKIPZ-that-_will_-get-shit-done-and-nothing-can-stop-him-or-you-wil l-die. This was the MUDKIPZ that no one dared fuck with.

And trust me. _No one_ can fuck with MUDKIPZ when he was like this.

I was the healer in the group. I usually stored up on the budder apples and health potions and stuffed them in my backpack. In our group, we all had a use, and that was how we all survived the maze.

Then the Dream-Message happened.

MUDKIPZ finished off another horde of creepers, sheathing a stone sword and turning to us. "Let's go."

All of us stared at him. "Do you realize what you just did?" Kyrak asked.

"No," MUDKIPZ answered, a blank look on his face. "What did I do?"

"You just took out a horde of _twenty _creepers! Holy fucking shit!" McJones praised. "You are _beast!_"

"Shut up," MUDKIPZ ordered.

McJones raised his hands quickly. "Okay!"

We kept walking deeper into the maze, staying on guard for chests, traps, and more monsters. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary (If being in a deadly maze was considered _ordinary_), until MUDKIPZ doubled over in apparent pain.

"Fuck! Ow! Ow!" he muttered, cradling his head in his hands and dropping to his knees. "OW!"

"Holy shit!" I grabbed a healing potion. "Here!"

"I'm fine!" MUDKIPZ growled. "Help me u—! _OW!_"

I wrapped my arm underneath his and hoisted him to his feet. "Can you walk? I think we need to take a rest for a while."

"I said I'm _fine!"_ MUDKIPZ hissed angrily. "Let's just... keep... going..." My friend crumpled to his knees, cradling his head in pain.

I was about to force-feed him the healing potion when McJones gasp. "Dude!" McJones screech. "Mark! It's Minion!"

I quickly turned to see my best friend drop to his own knees, pulling out his own hair and crying out in pain. He slumped onto the ground on his chest, his eyes closed and his face deathly pale.

"Shit!" I knelt next to Minion and felt his forehead. "I think he breathed in something. He's running a _really _high fever."

"Is he dyin—!" Kyrak collapsed on the ground unconscious.

"Holy _fuck!_" McJones grabbed his friend's shoulders and began to shake them wildly. "Kyrak! Open your eyes! One look at my face and you'll be good as new, dammit!"

"Don't shake him! You'll injure him!" I shouted.

"THEN HEAL HIM DAMM—!" McJones passed out.

"Bye-bye..." MUDKIPZ muttered, falling forward onto his chest.

I stood up in a panicky mess, turning in a complete circle to look at my unconscious friends. Then another complete circle...

"Okay," I muttered to myself. "It's all just a dream. Yeah. That's it. A nightmare. My friends are _not_ passing out in front of me for no reason. I'm probably the one who's unconscious, and this is just a dream I'm having. Yeah. Of course..."

My head burst into an uncontrollable flare of pain, and I dropped to my knees, holding my head in my hands. I closed my eyes to ease the pain. "A dream," I murmured, before I slumped forward and watched the whole world turn to darkness.

* * *

"OH WHAT THE FUCK!?"

My eyes snapped open and I scrambled to my feet. My hand rested onto my enchanted diamond sword as I noticed my friends standing up, in their normal fighting positions.

When did everyone get their favorite weapons back?

All of us were in a white void of... something. Everyone was shouting for some kind of monster to show themselves or for The Squids to stop whatever they were doing to us.

"Guys! Calm down! I'll teleport you back in a minute!"

I looked to my left. Sky _himself_ was standing near us, his clothes were covered in blood and torn to shreds. His glasses were broken to small black shards and his exposed skin was covered in dark burns.

"Holy shit," I muttered. "You're alive?"

Sky smiled. "I've been better, but yeah. I'm alive."

Everyone stopped fighting and turned to see our friend. No one moved, but just stared in shock. All of our forms flickered, as if we were just visions or something. Two people appeared behind him, like exact replicas except for their clothing. One had red clothing, like fire, and the other wore white clothing, like clouds in the sky.

MUDKIPZ was the first to react. "Holy shit, man. What the Nether happened to you?"

Sky smiled. "Nothing too bad. I met up with some of the others, told them the plan, then shifted over to you guys."

Kyrak raised his sword. "Who are those two fuckers behind you?"

_Um... If you're implying that we are "those to fuckers," then I'm Aether, and this is my partner, Nether, _the replica in the white clothing responded. His voice echoed in the white void, as if he were speaking in our heads.

S'up? the replica in the red clothing asked casually. We're also trying to save your asses, so I would prefer if you just called me, "The Awesome Version of Aether."

_Shut up, Nether._

YOU shut up!

Sky sighed. "Let's make this quick. Where are you guys?"

McJones furrowed his eyebrows. "In some kind of maze thing that The Squids made for us. I think for entertainment."

"Good. Keep doing what you're doing."

"W—What?" MUDKIPZ spluttered. "I think we're dying in there. There are fucking traps and monsters and shit! We might be dead already!"

"Cool. Now just be entertaining for them. It'll be a distraction while I set up the rest of the plan. Got it?" Sky responded coolly.

"Fuck," Minion muttered bitterly.

I nodded. "You have our word, Sky."

Nether tapped his friend's shoulder. Aether. How come we didn't need to pull all those stupid fucking levers again?

_Because we figured out how to do it without doing that. Besides, you kept messing it up._

Then start labeling those levers!

"Both of you, shut up," Sky hissed.

Fine. But I'm not gonna be happy about it.

Everyone's form flickered, and the white void dissolved.

* * *

I woke up on the ground near the lava pit. _Very_ near the lava pit.

MUDKIPZ yelped and put a hand against his chest, as if making sure he had a pulse. "Holy shit. Did that just happen?"

* * *

Luna POV—

Del, Sierra, Kate, and I all sat on the small bed attached to the wall, watching as Zhubox and Polska kept tackling each other. We didn't bother to stop them. They would tire themselves out eventually.

But it had already been two hours, and both were still going strong as if they had just started fighting.

I pressed my hand against my leg, feeling the fracture. There was less pain, which meant it was almost healed. That was good. At least I hoped.

"Luna? Can't you try teleporting again?" Kate asked.

I sighed. "I don't know if I can, but I'll try."

I closed my eyes, concentrating on moving from one place to another with barely any effort. Maybe out of these stupid chains if I could. Maybe near one of my friends on the outside. I felt my body dissolving, and...

My eyes snapped open, and I fell to the floor on my face.

"Ow..."

My sisters burst into laughter. "Almost! But no! Haha! Oh my Notch!"

I growled. "You try doing something besides watching me fall over. And help me back up before on of these guys tramples me."

After my three siblings lifted me from the ground (Is lifting a chain with _you teeth_ even possible?), we kept watching the fight. At first, all of us had placed bets—Del and Sierra for Zhubox, Kate for Polska, and I was betting it would end with a draw—but in the end, none of us cared. We just wanted it _to fucking end!_

Then, Kate began busting out the _Yo Mama... _Jokes: "Yo mama so fat, every time she turns around, it's her birthday!"

"Yo mama so fat, not even bedrock can hold her!" I challenged.

"Yo mama so fat, when she farts, a creeper exploding looks like fireworks!" Del clapped her hands under her chains. "What? Whatcho got?"

"Yo mama so ugly, Ghasts laughed when they saw her!" Sierra bust out.

I grinned. "Yo mama, is _so_ fucking fat...!"

Pause for effect.

"... When Notch said '_Let there be light,_' she had to move outta the way!"

"OH!" Del stared wide eyed. "Shit, dog!"

Kate did a small victory lap around the cell. "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!"

Sierra, erm, _high fived _me. "Until next time." She gave me the creepy stare into my soul.

"Guys! I think the fight is wrapping up!" Sierra announced.

All of us stopped to watch. Both Zhubox and Polska were running low on energy, slowing down and their tackles with less force. We all stood around, cheering on who we were betting on (We were betting with diamonds as soon as we escaped).

"Woo! Zhubox!" Del cheered!

"Kick her ass!" Sierra added.

"Go, Polska!" Kate bellowed. "Show him who's boss!"

I watched with careful eyes. Polska was covered in bruises and scratches, panting and trying not to collapse from Zhubox. My brother on the other hand, had a black eye and a large red spot on the center of his head. Both slowed, their eyes shinning...

"Wait..." I murmured to myself. "Stop!" I yelled. "Both of you!"

Both of my siblings kept fighting, ignoring my voice like a bug: insignificant and tiny. I felt anger burn inside my heart. It was from the deepest depths that I always hide my bad feelings away in. It was overflowing now, and I had to let some spill out.

"FUCKING STOP! ALL OF YOU!"

The fight slowed to a complete stop. Polska and Zhubox stared me with tired eyes, my other four siblings looking at me like: _What the fuck! We were gonna win diamonds!_

I growled. "We're fucking five daughters and one son of Notch, and we're sitting in a fucking cell! Why don't we stop betting on who's gonna win the fight and _actually try to escape!?_"

Polska and Zhubox lowered their heads. I glared at my two siblings. "What reason are we even fighting about!? Do we even _remember!?_ Or are we fighting just to show our endurance! We were _betting diamonds_ on who would win! We were fucking gambling on you two! Now, tell us what you feel!"

Polska twisted the toe of her boot on the floor. "I... was tired of him pushing me around. I wanted to show him I can take control."

Zhubox closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. "I wanted to make our father proud of me. I wanted to show him that even without my weapon and my limb mobility, I could still fight."

"And he _wasn't _proud of us?" I demanded.

"Um..."

I sighed. "I am done. We can continue this later. For now, we're getting out of here."

Sierra shook her head. "Damn. I was ready for a diamond sword."

"Shut up," I hissed.

"Okay."

Del looked at the cell door. "Bingo."

"_Bingo_ what?" Kate requested.

Del jumped up. "Our escape. Don't you realize that we can simply trick the guards to come in here? We can capture them, make them take off our chains, and boom. We're out and about, baby!"

"Um... And what would that distraction be?" Sierra asked.

All eyes turned to Polska and Zhubox, covered in bruises and scrapes.

"Oh c'mon!" Zhubox whined.

"Well, you guys need the medical attention anyways!" I replied. "So, whadda say? How about we go ahead and get you fighting again?"

"Can we bet this time?" Kate asked.

"No."

* * *

_**IT'S TWO WEEKS FUCKING LATE! WHAT KIND OF AUTHOR ARE YOU! I WILL NOT REST UNTIL YOUR ACCOUNT IS DELET****—**_

**SHUT UP! I WAS STILL A LITTLE SICK! NOW SHUT UP AND DEAL WITH IT! **

***Ahem* Now that that's over, let me give you another explanation!  
**

**November is something called "National Novel Writing Month." It gives you a month to write a short novel (Not to be published) and enter it in to win a prize! If you win, they print out one copy of your short novel and bind it together, kind of like a real book**

**Now, you guys know little ol' me...**

**Right?**

**So, naturally, I entered in! If you guys want to try out, it's not too late to try out! Use this "link-thing-a-ma-bob!"  
**

** /**

**But, again, this means that it may take more time to enter in chapters in this story. But I _WILL_ try my best.**

**(Not really! :3)**

**But, anyways, make sure to favorite and follow if you enjoyed, and I will see you soon!**

**So, tell me, Awesomer Army Members: Where's Antvenom when you need him?**

**-The Awesomer**


	18. One more thing!

**Hai, guys! :3**

**So, Minecon is coming soon (Fuck yeah!), and I can't go...**

_**But The Awesomer! Why can't you go to Minecon! Sky and all the Sky Army generals will be the****—**_

**Okay! I just can't go! I moved to Colorado about three months back, and we're still unpacking (I have no idea how. We're just THAT lazy). So, I can't go to Minecon.  
**

**BUT!**

**If any of you are going, make sure to tell Sky I said "Hai! :3," and tell us all how it went.**

**And maybe get some budder while you're at it.**

**So, any of you that are going to Minecon: Have fun, and tell us what you did!**

**Bye-bye!**

**-The Awesomer**


	19. Chapter 19: First Escapees Plans

Sky POV—

"Are we done, Aether?" I asked, coughing up some blood. "I think this shit is killing me..."

_Um... Yeah. We talked to everyone. Minus the children of Notch, Antvenom and the group he's with, and iAngel. Plus, we just can't get a connection with Ray or Ethan._

"Good..." I muttered, closing my eyes and leaning back onto the wall behind me. "I can rest for a while..."

Sleep tight, man, Nether said. Aether? You wanna fuck up some of his dreams?

_I promised I would never mess around with him._

Well, you're a—

_This is going to be so much fun!_

"Mess with my dreams, and I'll find a way to kill you both," I growled.

* * *

Kate POV—

"Guards! _Guards!_" I shrieked, slamming myself into the door. "Help! They're attacking themselves! Make them stop!"

Luna, Sierra, and Del all joined in. "HEY! GET THEM OUTTA HERE! HELP US!"

Heavy footsteps pounded towards our cell. The heavy iron door opened, revealing several Squidlantians. "Pu tuhs!"

Luna motioned to the fighting Zhubox and Polska. "Pots meht ekam! Lortnoc attuo teg yeht fi lla su truh annog er'yeht!"

Zhubox tackled Polska to the wall, but she retaliated with a bite on the shoulder. Zhubox cried out in pain and kicked her in the knee, making her drop to the ground. The Squidlantian guards ran in quickly, trying to hold them away from each other. Unfortunately, they left the door open. While Zhubox and Polska provided the distraction, we escaped the cell. We would come back in a few minutes, as soon as we got these stupid chains off of our bodies.

Luna peeked around a corner. "Clear."

All four of us waddled around the corner, ignoring the painful wails of the other prisoners in their cells. Some reached through the bars, their hands brushing against our chained bodies. They drew back their hands, both fear and hope in their eyes. Some just sat in the center of their cells, wailing in pain or hunger. One was even trapped with a spider-jockey. I didn't want to know what happened to him.

"Duck!" Del ordered.

We all quickly crouched down, breathing in a silent whisper as Del peaked around the corner. I nudged her. "How many?"

"Three. They've got enchanted bows."

I cursed, looking back at my siblings. "Any ideas?"

They all shrugged, and I spat out an even more colorful curse. I scooted around Del noiselessly, taking a quick peek around the wall. Sure enough, three Squidlantian guards stood smack in the center of the prison, talking and laughing casually. What would they be talking about between themselves that was funny to laugh at? Their faces?

That was not good. I'm sorry.

I growled, watching as they boredly plucked their bowstrings. The prisoners kept wailing and crying, asking them to let them go. One stood out in my mind:

"YOU FUCKERS! LET ME OUT! I'LL RIP YOUR THROATS OUT AND FEED THEM TO YOUR MOTHERS!" The man continued with even more colorful curses that wouldn't even be allowed in the story.

After a few more curses, the trio of Squids turned, drew their bows to full power, and let the arrows fly. The curses stopped in an instant, followed by the dull _THUMPTHUMPTHUMPTHUMP!_ of the Squidlantians pumping the man full of arrows, despite the fact that he was already dead.

I did my best to hold what little food I had in my stomach, scooting back to my spot and leaning back on the wall. I stared at a wall for a few seconds before Del turned to us with wide eyes. "They're walking over."

Perking up, I heard the heavy, squishy footsteps of Squidlantians. My heart skipped several beats, and I looked towards the ceiling. _Father,_ I pleaded. _If you can help us just once, we all will forever be thankful. Please. Just get rid of these guards for us._

The footsteps instantly stopped, followed by a few confused words. All of us held our breath.

"_AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGHHHH!"_ I nearly jumped out of my skin, listening to the three Squids shrieking in fear suddenly. I felt an unknown heat sear against my skin, a holy-white light giving a quick flash before fading away, leaving nothing but the darkness we were in earlier. That light... if felt comforting and familiar.

My adrenaline rush faded away into my normal heartbeat. Del peaked back around the corner. "Holy squid shit. They're dead."

"What?" Sierra asked.

"They're lying on the floor dead!"

All four of us quickly stood up and looked around the corner. The three bloody bodies that used to be Squidlantians were crumpled in a heap on the ground, the dark halos of blood flowing from the Squids.

_Thank you, Father,_ I prayed, a tiny smile growing on my lips as we continued to wander around.

I then spotted a room labeled: _Moor Kaerb_.

_Break Room._

"That was easy," Del pointed out, starting to walk over.

Luna stopped him. "Something's not right. I don't think that's a Break Room. Why exactly would they put a Break Room in the center of the prison wing?"

" 'Cause they're stupid?" I asked.

Sierra snapped her fingers under her chains. "They _are_ stupid. But they aren't _that_ stupid. That's a trap."

Del looked back at Luna. "Any ideas?"

She shook her head. "No. It's a definite trap... but it's holding something that we might need."

"And what would that be?" Sierra asked.

No one answered, until the answer smacked me in the face. "Information about Sky Army and its alliances. Keys to the prison. Coordinates to Sky Army hideouts and alliance hideouts. Fuck! Even weapon ideas and crafting recipes!"

No one spoke.

A prisoner tapped me on the shoulder from her cell. "You must help us. You are the first to escape with ease. Help us all."

The other prisoners began to cry out, telling us to get whatever was inside. The former Sky Army Recruits, Audience Members, Alternate Army Recruits, and everyone else that was with us.

I swallowed. "I guess we must do this."

Del nodded. "Kate's right."

Sierra and Luna nodded. "So... let's get to it."

* * *

iAngel POV—

"Gryphon! Heel!" Toby shouted from my shoulder. "Don't attack the pi—! Um... Hungry, anyone?"

I nearly vomited. "I'll pass."

Everyone tried not to puke, even Red Flare. And we couldn't see underneath his mask. Gryphon came back from his kill, wagging his tail and covered in pig blood. He dragged a chunk of flesh in his mouth, dropping it at my feet.

Toby swallowed. "Good... Good boy, Gryphon... Oh Notch..."

"_Ruff!"_ Gryphon ran in circles in happiness. While he was easily distracted, I kicked a rock over the piece of meat. We all kept walking.

"So... No response from either Snapp or Chance?" Toby asked.

"No," I answered, nearly tripping over an ecstatic Gryphon. "Either they can't respond, or they're..." I didn't finish the thought.

Vic sighed. "And that was our last emergency note. We can't communicate with anyone else."

Ck hacked a tree branch out of his way. "Anything we _can_ do?"

"I can probably pray to my dad. He can give us advice or a hint," I offered.

"Are we guaranteed?" Red Flare asked.

I shook my head. "He can either be busy or angry. But if I'm lucky, he'll be able to cooperate with us." I rolled my shoulder, almost making Toby fall to the ground. "But I can try."

"Don't," Bodil said. "I have a feeling he might be busy."

There was an uncomfortable silence for about ten minutes, all six of us wandering through the forest hoping to find something.

Vic finally snapped his fingers. "Teleportation!"

Bodil looked at him like he was crazy. "What?"

"iAngel can teleport us to the Squid Army HQ!" Vic said excitedly, cackling in delight. "Can't you?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but it takes a lot of energy. Even for two people."

"Is there any other way you can teleport us to the Squid Army HQ?" Ck asked.

I thought for a second, the only sound I could hear was Gryphon romping through the forest. I remembered the time when I gave Athena the enderstone that teleported her out of the Aether and into the Overworld. The enderstone was _extremely_ rare. Only found in my father's temples. But every once in a while, bits would chip off and fall to the Overworld...

Once in a while.

"Um... No," I finally said.

"Freaking Mini-Minotaur," Toby cursed.

Ck scratched his shoulder. "Well... shit."

Vic pulled a random potion from his belt and tossed it. A large oak tree smoked and melted into a small pool of acid. "Then, our friends are dead."

Red Flare pointed. "What's that?"

I squinted into the distance. There was a large blue splotch that shimmered and sparkled in the sunlight. No doubt it was a water source. An ocean perhaps. There was nothing to special about it. Just a white beach with a small cave to one side, and a few Squids swimming in the water. The normal Squids that we fought at the beginning of the war. They kept yelling the tell-tale phrase: "I'MA SQUIIIIIIID! SQUIIIIIIIIIIID!"

Wait.

Squids!

Toby leaped up to his feet on my shoulder. "Holy...! Gryphon! Heel!"

The small white dog stopped running around and sat down in the soil at my feet, wagging his tail and panting. His white fur matted and tangled in a bunch of branches and rocks, showing that he was having fun.

Toby jumped from my shoulder, landing on the back of his dog. Gryphon only grunted, but gave no sign of being uncomfortable. He grabbed on the red collar and grinned. "What's the plan?"

Red Flare pulled out one of his iron knives. "You distract the Squids, we'll go into the cave?" he suggested, though he didn't look so confident.

I shook my head. "Too risky. They'll know something's up."

Vic pulled another potion from his coat. "I have a few invisibility potions. We can easily sneak past."

"Gryphon won't drink potions. I can't even force them down," Toby protested.

Ck raised a finger. "We can do what you and your siblings did. Get into banana suits and dance around until we can take them out."

"No," Bodil and I said in unison. That was the end of that idea.

Toby tapped a finger against his chin. "What about we snipe them? You guys can use your bows."

"Too much foliage," Ck answered.

I thought for a few seconds. "Charge?" I offered.

"Okay," they all answered.

_Wow. When in doubt, suggest charge._

I pulled out my budder sword, the yellow blade glinting in the buddery sunlight. "Toby. Would you mind sounding the battle cry?"

"With pleasure." Toby pulled out his own enchanted diamond sword and raised it, raising it above his head. "_FOR SKY ARMY!_"

The remaining five of us yelled in agreement and charged, our weapons either drawn or raised in the air. We ran down the hill, confidence in our hearts and eyes. I could see my brothers and sisters again! I could save them! I could save everyone else! I could—

"Stop!" Bodil shrieked.

All of us screeched to a halt, losing the confidence and excitement in ourselves. Bodil lowered his budder sword. "Look."

My friends and I looked into the water where Bodil was pointing. The Squids that swam around aimlessly earlier were now pointing at us with their tentacles, waving them around as if trying to signal something at us. They stood up in the water and began running towards us, shouting something that the wind carried away easily.

"Um... Friendly?" Ck asked.

Red Flare answered, "I wouldn't take my chances."

Toby pulled on Gryphon's collar, causing him to back up. "Scatter!"

No one questioned the leader of The Audience. Everyone dove in random directions and hid in the trees. I kept my budder sword in front of me, ready to attack whatever was coming towards us. It was obvious that those things weren't normal Squids. Maybe they weren't even Squids at all. Whatever they were, they could be dangerous.

Bodil did a sharp—yet quiet—whistle. He pointed to the tops of the trees, then mimed pulling back the string on a bow. _Snipe them,_ he meant to say. It was a good plan. But we still didn't know whether these things were friendly or not. I shook my head in a quick response.

To my left, Vic pulled out an invisibility potion, pulling off the cork and downing the potion in a second. Vic shimmered and vanished.

The Squids were now looking for us, calling us by pretty obvious nicknames: "Mother fuckers," "Bitches," and the grande: "Shitty cock suckers."

Wow.

Either way, their voices sounded familiar, and I was tempted to see what was going on.

_Stop. It's trickery. They're trying to kill you._

I raised my budder sword just as I saw the closest Squid walking towards me. I felt my nerves turn to steel, and I tensed my legs to leap on top of this bastard. A slow countdown went off in my head: _5... 4... 3... 2..._

I stopped. The leaves in a nearby tree rustled, making the Squids that were looking for us stop. They looked around in confusion.

"SURPRISE, MOTHA FUCKA!" I watched as a Squid just behind the first one slammed to the ground. A stone sword levitated just above it's throat, almost ready to send the Squid to an early grave.

"Go!" Ck shouted.

The remaining five of us lunged towards the Squids that were nearby. I attempted to tackle the one near me to the ground by slamming into his head, but missed pitifully. The Squid—despite not having an actual body or limbs like Squidlantians—dodged easily. He wrapped his tentacle around my leg, lifting me from the soil. I swung my budder sword and barely grazed him, blood coating the tip of my blade.

The Squid was angry, slamming me against a tree and onto the ground. I cried out, pain flaring up my back. "You... _bastard!_" My sword swiped smoothly through the tentacle, dropping me back to the ground.

The Squid wailed in agony. "YOU FUCKER!" He recovered fast, dashing towards me with amazing speed and swinging his remaining tentacles in a blur of navy-blue. I propped my leg against the tree that I was rammed into only a few seconds earlier, pushing off with all my strength and ramming my shoulder into his chest. The Squid fell to the ground and slid on the soil and gravel for a few blocks.

Before he could recover like earlier, I dove into a roll and landed hard on his chest, placing my forearm against his throat and raising my sword just above his head. The Squid widened his eyes. "Don't do dis!"

I grit my teeth. "What is your name?"

The Squid growled. "Xoldaed."

Xoldaed? My brain reeled over the name. It was "Deadlox" in the Squid's language!

"Deadlox? It's you?" I lowered my sword.

The Squid chuckled. "My blood isn't blue, is it?"

I finally noticed the crimson red fluid on my sword tip. It wasn't Squid blood. "Shit, man!" I yelled. "I was about to kill you!"

The Squid raised a tentacle, pressing a spot on the side of his head. He shimmered, then changed into a normal human-being. Deadlox laid on the ground beneath my body, the shoulder of his white T-shirt soaked with blood. One of the green stickers on his headset flashed, then grew dim. "Damn, iAngel. That was some pretty good fighting!"

I felt confusion grip me. "If you were just acting like a Squid... who were the others?"

"Pfft! Those weirdos are Minecraftuniverse, Bajan and Caveman! We found a way to escape the Squid Army HQ pretty easily."

"Ah! iAngel! Don't kill that Squid!" Toby shouted. "Those aren't Squids!"

A laughed escaped my lips. "Um... Too late!" I lied.

"Oh, shit!" Red Flare yelled. "Deadlox!"

"Right here!" Deadlox shouted. "I'm okay. She was joking!"

A few moments later, the new group showed themselves: Vic, Red Flare, Ck, Toby, Gryphon, Bajan, Minecraftuniverse, Caveman, and Bodil. I helped Deadlox to his feet and waited for him to brush off the dirt on his clothes.

Vic's form shimmered. The invisibility potion was starting to wear off. "So... You guys escaped the Squid Army HQ?"

"Yes," Caveman answered.

"Without getting caught?" Red Flare continued.

"Yes," Minecraftuniverse said.

"Or getting mortally injured?" Ck questioned.

"Yep." Deadlox yawned.

"Then disguised yourselves as Squids?" Toby asked.

"Uh, huh."

"And almost let us kill you?" I finished.

"Yeah."

Bodil shrugged. "Seems like something these guys would do."

"And..." Vic grinned insanely. "That means they know a way back into the Squid Army HQ for us to break into and save everyone else."

* * *

Ethan POV—

I hate being a mute.

It's not so bad once you get used to it. You can focus on your own thoughts. You make amazing ideas, inventions, and discoveries. You can even just act insane around people because you can.

But you can never get people to understand you when they need to.

Susan rode around on another Enderman, cheering and... generally doing nothing. Ruby and Sapphire were helping Athena and Ray build the portal that would lead us all back to the Overworld, including the Ender Dragon that Athena claimed to be her sister.

Yeah. Everyone totally bought that on the first time Athena made the claim.

Ray wiped some sweat from her brow. "Okay. Almost done."

Ruby and Sapphire gave each other a sisterly high-five. "Yeah!"

I took a few deep breaths and nodded. _Yeah. A good job._

Athena patted Eris on her long snout, looking towards me. "Well, we built the portal. How do we activate it?"

I thought for a second, trying to recall the final edition to the portal. I had read how to make the portal once in some kind of book, and the only complication of the formula was how to activate the portal. You had to perform some kind of spell. What was it again? You had to eat a red mushroom cap, then...

I hung my head in shame then shrugged. _I dunno._

Athena sighed. "Do we need to get anything from the Overworld?"

_The book that held the spell!_ I nodded quickly._  
_

"Where?"

I dropped to the ground and wrote down the location, drawing out a map of Sky Army HQ and circling where the library of the base would be. I tapped where the library was. _There! We need to hurry!_

Athena grabbed my shoulder, holding the Eye of Ender in her hands. "Alright. Let's go."

I closed my eyes, feeling my body dissolve and reassemble in a few seconds. I caught a whiff of ozone and smoke in the wind, causing me to choke and wheeze. I felt rubble beneath my feet, crumbling to dust or staying sturdy. I opened my eyes.

Sky Army HQ was in absolute ruins. Smoke and flames rose against the foundation of clay and obsidian. Domesticated animals ran around in panic, making as much noise as possible and causing an animal chaos. Hostile monsters wandered around, sometimes eating the animals, sometimes destroying what few walls remained standing. The blue sky floated by above us, dark smoke and red flames eating away the blue.

"Holy shit!" Athena whispered, crouching low so the monsters wouldn't see us. "What the fuck happened?"

I stared with wide eyes. I then scowled. _Squids._

"Where the fuck is the library?" she asked.

_I can't even tell the cafeteria from the outside!_ I wanted to scream.

A random pig walked over to us, snorted, then ran off. I watched as an arrow from a skeleton archer pierce its throat only a few seconds later. A small horde of zombies then began to devour the carcass. Athena gagged. "I don't wanna end up like him."

_Ya think?_

"Let's just find whatever you need and leave," Athena suggested. "Just look for the books."

I nodded and crawled off, pulling out my budder sword and holding it protectively in front of me. _The library,_ I thought to myself. _Not so diff__icult..._

A creeper hissed and blew up next to an obsidian wall. It stood strong for a few seconds, then crumbled to dust.

_Yeah. Not so difficult._

A chicken clucked, pecking at my feet and looking up at me. He clucked again.

_Hmm..._ I glanced at the zombie hordes, then back at the chicken.

Athena crawled over to me. "Anything?"

I shook my head. _No._ _But..._ I pointed at the chicken, then at the zombies.

Athena nodded. "Hand him over."

I carefully placed down my sword and grabbed the chicken by his feet. It clucked and flapped its wings, but I quickly handed it Athena. She pulled out one of her budder daggers and sliced off the head, tossing the head aside. The body kept moving. She threw it away from us. "Go! Be free!"

The headless chicken fell like a stone to the ground, running around wildly. The zombies were on it in a few moments, devouring what was left of the body.

I got to my feet and ran, watching my step on the rubble and animal bones that remained. Athena quickly killed a skeleton archer and decapitated a creeper. Quietly, I thrusted my budder sword through an enderman, retrieving the enderpearl that was left. We searched through the remains of each room, finding different possessions of dead Sky Army recruits: Weapons, paintings, charms, books that talked about family history. Normally, I would be swept into a trance of nostalgia for these people. But this time I was all work. I wasn't going to grieve over these people until the war was over once and for all.

"Ethan!" Athena whispered from a distance. She waved. "Library!"

I stumbled over the obsidian rubble and dug through the rocks. There were many leather-bound books about potions, Squids, monsters, animals, fighting techniques (I pocketed that one), and even about how to tame a horse. _Okay... nope. No. No. No way. C'mon! Where's the book we need?!_

"Ethan! Is this it?"

Athena placed a red leather-bound book in my hands. There was no title, no author name. It was just a plain red leather book cover. I flipped through the pages, watching as diagrams and recipes flipped by. I tapped the cover, nodding my head enthusiastically. _Yes! This is it! This is the one we need!_

My friend nodded. "Good. Let's head back." She reached for the Eye of Ender in her pocket. Confusion flashed across her face, followed by an immediate horror. "The Eye. I—It's gone!"

I stuffed the book in my backpack. _What?_

We spent the next few seconds searching the ruins of the library for the Eye. A few seconds later, we both stopped, turning on our heels and looking towards the zombie horde. In the rubble from where we came from, sat a glittering orb about the size of my palm. The color was a dark blue-green with a cat-like pupil in the center.

"Oh shit," Athena hissed.

The zombies moved on to a large cow, taking it down with absolute ease.

_BIG "oh shit,"_ I agreed in my mind.

A creeper passed by us unnaturally close. The only reason he didn't see us was the screen of smoke from the fire that blazed in front of us. I swallowed, raising my eyebrows at Athena. _Any ideas?_

Athena thought for a few excruciatingly long seconds. She shrugged. "I don't know."

_Of course, _I thought. _We can never think of a plan when we need it._

Another skeleton passed by, still unable to see us because of the smoke in front of us. My mind began to throw out random ideas: We could kill another animal as bait. We could charge in. We could use some enderpearls to sneak in quickly and escape.

Another creeper walked by, looking around at the possibilities of meals in the animals. I soon focused my eyes on the smoke. If they couldn't see us through the smoke...

I pointed at the fire in front of us. _Idea!_

Athena stared at the red flames. "What?"

I waved my hand at the fire. _Smoke! We can sneak past them with smoke!_

"We throw rocks at them?" Athena asked.

_No! We use the fucking smoke!_

Athena picked up a rock and hefted it. "I don't know what you're planning, but okay." She pulled back her arm, and threw the rock as hard as she could at the monsters.

The rock hit one of the zombies in the head, burying itself in the skull and killing it instantly. The zombies turned towards our direction, leaving behind the half-devoured cow.

I punched her in the arm. _You fucking idiot!_

"What?" Athena demanded. "You wanted me to throw a rock!"

_No!_ I knelt down and put my hand directly in the fire. _The smoke, genius! The SMOKE!_

"Oh..."

I smacked my face. _Fuck!_

The zombies moaned and shuffled towards us. We both pulled out our weapons and got into a fighting position. Monsters from all around began to shift their attention towards us, firing arrows and hissing and moaning in anger and hunger. I grit my teeth. We were going to die, no matter how hard we fought.

"Shit!" Athena replaced her daggers with her bow, notching an arrow and releasing it into the nearest skeleton. I sliced a creeper in half at the torso (If creepers have torsos) and slammed my elbow into the face of an enderman. A skeleton sent an arrow into my leg and I silently cried out in pain, swinging my sword into a zombie's chest. Athena fired arrows nonstop, each one with a different ability as usual: TNT arrows, smoke arrows, flaming arrows, poison. Each one brought a few different hostile monsters down.

But there were too many. Several skeletons fired arrow after arrow just as fast, nailing both of us in multiple places. I began to tire quickly, my attacks coming too slowly. Athena finally ran out of arrows and resorted to using her daggers. The monsters were closing in, exploding or throwing blocks at us. Athena's daggers were swept away in a few zombies, and she began to use wither-skulls, killing and blowing up only a few monsters.

"Nice knowing you!" Athena cried out, chucking another skull.

_Ditto!_ I decapitated a twentieth enderman. I dropped my sword arm in tiredness. I waited for death.

"_BASTARDS! DON'T MESS WITH OUR FRIENDS!"_ In a flash of black, half of the monsters were taken out. There was barely any time to register what was happening. The other monsters were in the same confusion and fear. Endermen teleported away. Skeletons and creepers fled. The zombies were too slow, falling to the ground dead.

Athena turned to me wide eyed. "Did you do that?"

I shook my head. _Did you?_

Two figures landed in front of us, budder swords sheathed and complete bodies covered in dark clothes, including the faces. One had large eyes on the top of his head. The second had tiny, beady black eyes that darted around in excitement.

The figures removed their dark masks. "Hey guys."

Athena squeaked. "Oh my Notch."

Standing in front of us, was Jerome and Kermit.

* * *

**Blah, blah, blah. Back in school. Lots of catching-up to do. Big exam next week. Hate my body for getting sick.**

**I'm doing my best to try and wrap up the story so it doesn't drag on too long, but I want to include time for every character to have some page time, plus I want to get the important details need to be included. I promise the story will get to the awesome part soon.  
**

**Anyways, make sure to favorite and follow if you enjoyed. A final salute, and I will see you soon!**

**So, tell me, Awesomer Army recruits: Was it for the LOLZ?**

**-The Awesomer**


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